Did you know that a lot of authoritarians and tyrants were duly elected, and then they just decided never to leave – or installed a puppet government? Indeed.
How do they get elected?
Demagogs have been part of the political reality since the beginning of civilization. Many who are in campaign mode will be enticed to lie about whatever makes their potential constituents perk their ears, get their most basic emotions flowing – so long it moves their happy butt from their cozy living spaces to the ballots. The actual platform is almost irrelevant, because a demagog plans on doing whatever they want anyway.
However, those rallies, those commercials, debates, zingers, sick burns, or whatever other tactic their followers find enticing will make them angry enough to show their undivided support and loyalty. This support will be incremental, first by tuning in, then buying all kinds of merch, then showing up at whatever place they are asked (where they will likely buy even more merch), get surrounded by a bunch of people who are falling under the same swindle – and fired up against whomever they are supposed to be angry at this particular time.
Yes, you’ve read that right – whoever is the person or entity that will be recipient of the furious rage will change – and that could even include an ardent loyalist who for whatever reason was disavowed. Remember, for an authoritarian – EVERYONE is disposable, no matter how close or loyal they were to the authoritarian.
They get elected by getting you angry (worth repeating), and posing themselves as the only solution to all problems they claim is tearing the fabric of society – what they don’t tell you is that a lot of those problems are really make believe – they are designed to get you fired up, make you so enraged as to lose your rationality, while making you feel as the smartest person in the room, because you’re surrounded by a bunch of people who were convinced of the same BS.
J. Marcelo Baqueroalvarez Authoritarianism & Propaganda The Puppet Master Tools.
How do they get YOUR vote?
Authoritarians “wanna-be” will be getting YOUR vote by lying to your face. Once they get to power, they could very well become full authoritarians if the office to which they have been elected is corrupt enough to become a rubber stamp to their antics. That is why they will surround themselves with loyalists to erode the strength of those who are actually holding them accountable. Accountability is good, and expected if you’re the leader. Lack of accountability opens the door for authoritarianism and tyranny.
If an “authoritarian wanna be,” and their propagandist realized that you and your like-minded folks are naïve, they will lower the standards on the narrative even more, and see how much can they lie to your face without you calling them out, or worse – if you’re short-sighted enough to keep parroting their buzz words and talking points, even if they are inconsistent.
This of course will frustrate the crap out of the people who are actually paying attention – even if they were in the same political party at some point – but the most naïve group will double down on their devotion for their “dear leader” and attack anybody who dares calling the inconsistencies out. But remember, for the naïve group, the inconsistencies are irrelevant, because in their echo chamber all that BS makes perfect sense. It is designed to be that way.
When a person is angry, rationality and fact-checking is the first thing that goes out the window – especially if planted talking points are making them believe they have the answers. But talking points are not the same as facts. They are statements that are easily digestible, and can pass the smell test unless you dig an inch deeper for scrutiny. The authoritarians just need you to be naïve enough until they galvanize power. After that you’re disposable.
If you realize that you’ve been duped, then they will silence you because they already got all the power that they needed to keep you and everybody else quiet – or make you and everything you ever loved violently disappear. In my book Authoritarianism & Propaganda the Puppet Master Tools I cite several examples that show how situations like this happened. And yes, lying to naïve voters is a tactic that has been proven and used pretty much forever. But people keep falling for it. Why?
I’ll be as diplomatic as I can – because tons of people don’t give a crap about anything or anyone who is not in their immediate surroundings, or if it does not seem to affect them. To get your vote, the demagogs will make you believe somebody who is outside your bubble is the enemy – but if you would actually get to talk to them, you would realize the obvious – we are more similar than different.
That realization is inconvenient to a demagog – if you forget everything I said, remember this – they don’t care about you, or if you pledged your loyalty to them – unless it is self-serving to them. And the very second you become inconvenient, then you will become disposable. There is a reason why all these demagogs surround themselves by “yes” men and women. HLC
Authoritarians are only as strong as their followers, but did you know that authoritarians actually weaken and exploit their own followers? Indeed, they do.
Authoritarians are actually weak!
Sure, they can see larger than life, be charming, witty, or even calculating and shrewd – all that is a façade. They are actually very insecure people who are so far up their own behind that they have convinced themselves that they are super-human, and the under some religions “god’s gift to mankind.” I’m not even kidding.
Most authoritarians, and “authoritarians wanna-be” will display some of the following traits. This is not an all-inclusive list of red flags… but they should be enough for you to start digging a bit more onto their character idiosyncrasies.
· They whine a lot! Much like ill-mannered toddlers, or misguided prepubescent teenagers; except that they are a lot older, and somehow think that being a pedantic-name-calling-immature-goon is ok. It is not.
· They surround themselves by people who will kiss their butt. These people will become a rubber stamp to their antics, and do mental gymnastics to justify the unjustifiable to others outside the group – even if they themselves cannot stand this person’s guts.
· They take no accountability, and will pretend or outright say that they are never wrong. And of course, their aforementioned acolytes will parrot the same talking points verbatim, and will likely be very aggressive to anybody who calls them on any [of the likely many] inconsistencies that they spew.
· They exploit people’s biases. This can be very evident pretty much whenever they accuse their opposition of doing or planning on doing something nefarious. Then surprise-surprise it is something they (the authoritarian) end up doing themselves, or there is already a precedent that they have been enacted that exact shady action they are accusing others of doing – even if their opposition has never enacted those nefarious actions.
· They are petty, and won’t fight an important issue on the merits – not ever. Because they are actually incapable of doing so. But if they address it, then it will likely turn into an ambush-style “date-me-bro” type scenario. Because they’re not really interested on answering a legitimate question with facts, but rather create a visceral response that might seem like a “sick burn” to those who are too shortsighted to realize that they are worshiping an adult who has not matured, and continues to act like a 1980’s high-school bully
I can go on, but these should get the brain-wheels running. If you want more examples, I’ve literally written over 100 articles and released two books about this topic, all available on this site. And there is a lot to read, because the level of collective cognitive dissidence the world is facing is gigantic, and it was specifically designed to put our population into the negative situation we find ourselves in right now.
This is directed not only to those who are in favor of the authoritarian, but also a warning for those against said authoritarian. They want you to lose your cool and give up on actually finding common ground through dialog and problem solving. And of course, they want the platform. In other words, Authoritarians are losers, but they will pose as the “cool kid” by attacking whomever is at a potential disadvantage.
They tend to be very much emboldened by faux-bravado – so long their “friends” are able to rescue them. But if they are on a one-one feud they will fold like an origami dove. That is why they draw power from the attention they get by their adoring followers. And that is also the reason why they double down when somebody calls them out, and they will move the goal post, or change the narrative to fit their immediate “debate-me-bro” event. These tactics are actually pretty pathetic when you see it pragmatically.
But most importantly, if you’re their follower they are insulting YOU, because you’re their first victim. They will either con you out of money, time, effort, and make you believe you should be grateful for the “privilege” of being allowed to kiss their butt whenever they feel like it. Oh, and also feel grateful if they disavow you for disagreeing with them – because how dare you not show unlimited obedience and loyalty to them? Right? By the way, you’re disposable to them.
And the reason why they are so weak is because no matter how “successful” they might look, their accomplishments are always below what they touted to be. That means that no matter how high their position, rank, or stature they attained, they will always feel like they are second best, because they already lied to be better than they truly are – that is why they overcompensate to act as though they have to be number one on everything. Again, this is pretty pathetic.
They will attack others mercilessly, but they have very thin skin if anybody points out their idiosyncrasies. But remember, the authoritarian projects their insecurities onto their followers. Even if they did not share the same insecurities at first, this projection exploits their biases and exacerbates them to the point where these vulnerabilities become very real. Much like when you’re in a toxic relationship that is changing you for the worse. Authoritarianism is similar but a lot more complex on scale and scope.
If you forget absolutely everything I just said in this article, remember this. The authoritarians are weak, and they only draw strength from your attention and outrage. The best way to defeat them is by understanding the full context of any argument, and accept if you’ve been mistaken, and take steps to correct your path. No matter if you’re for or against this authoritarian, the truth can be found by pairing intellectual honesty with critical thinking. HLC
On this new article series, I share some fond mother-daughter adventures. This story is when the fire department had to save the day when I was still a teenager.
Adventuring With Mom Series (Part One):
Mother’s Day is here and although it’s the first without my mom I believe I’m starting to turn a new corner. The first article that I composed was a combination of sadness, pain, and loss but there are so many wonderful memories with Mom that I would like to share with others. In anticipation of this I’m starting a series of stories called Adventuring With Mom that will highlight the light-hearted, interesting, but mostly hilarious aspects of being a recipient of Patricia Espinosa’s “blood flowing through my body” as she would declare with sinister glee and a smile on her face. I hope to create enough recollections that I may create a book filled with them someday but, for today, I want to simply share the smiles and laughter. Let’s begin.
Looking forward to watching a movie together!
In 1993 a lot of great movies were showing in the theaters. This is when Schindler’s List, Menace II Society, Groundhog Day, and Jurassic Park were making cinema history, but it was Philadelphia that caught my family’s interest one late Saturday afternoon starring Tom Hanks and Denzel Washington. I honestly can’t remember exactly who was going to see the movie that day, but I remember Mom and I had made plans to drive over to the Lloyd Center Regal Cinema Complex just as soon as we finished one quick and easy errand. At least that’s what we believed.
I worked at several places when I was young including Chez Jose East, Grill, and West (the latter was sold to a different owner), Suncoast Motion Pictures (merged with Fye), but by far my most challenging job was as a kennel worker at a low-income veterinarian called Peninsula Dog and Cat Clinic on N. Interstate Ave. in between two areas that are called Arbor Lodge and Overlook in Portland, Oregon. I could do an entirely separate article on everything I did at that clinic but, for the purposes of this story, it could be time-consuming.
Not only did I work at the clinic at least twice a week after school, but I was scheduled to clean the kennels every other weekend and this fateful Saturday was part of my weekend to clean. Cleaning entailed a great deal than what it sounds like. I had developed a system after almost a year managing things at the clinic. Soak and wash all the dirty feeding bowls; wash, dry, fold and stow all of the pet beds, blankets, towels, and rags; machine sanitize any used syringes in the exam room; clean and sanitize all cages; change litter boxes; administer prescribed medications and injections (if needed); divvy out clean water and food (as their diet directed); give lots and lots of loving to the dogs and cats and, of course, help dogs use the bathroom in an outdoor enclosure called a dog run. Here is where chaos and destiny will meet.
Mom thought that things could go faster, and we could make it to the movie showing early, if she helped me out this one time. Afterall, we both thoroughly enjoy movie trailers. Who doesn’t? Back then you couldn’t select your seats in advance online. Cell phones didn’t exist. If you didn’t want to sit in the neck break or nosebleed areas of the theater, you better get there early. I knew my mom was like-minded in work ethics. She managed a school cafeteria, daily. I was confident that we could successfully knock everything out in half the time it took me alone. I wasn’t anticipating…Kelly.
Oh, my goodness! Kelly was one of our regular stays and she was the cutest miniature terrier in grey. I had no qualms about letting her out to roam the clinic, freely. The clinic had recently acquired two unadopted kittens, too, that I had named Jim and Spock. Our clinic mascots, Homey and Mishka, didn’t even mind them so I let the kittens out to explore until Mom and I finished chores. Kelly didn’t bother any of the cats because she was more interested in using her adorable looks to get cuddles and pets and Mom wasn’t unaffected by her charm.
After what seemed like an eternity of giving Kelly all the attention I directed Kelly to the dog run. I opened the door to the outdoor enclosure and Kelly bounded past me with gusto and energy. As I redirected my focus on Kelly Mom had made her way into the enclosure, curious to know where all the dogs did their business. In all the excitement I didn’t look up until Mom had completely walked into the enclosure and I heard the door close.
Oh. My. God. No. I asked Mom if she had pulled the door closed or left it cracked open. Her eyes grew wide. She asked me why I asked, and I explained that the door automatically locked from the inside so if she did pull the door behind her, we were screwed. Her face said it all. We were stuck and panic was bubbling to the surface.
While I was looking skyward for answers Kelly happily burrowed into my lap, oblivious to our dilemma. Mom was calling on all her positive energy and began inquiring into what was located around the clinic. Under any other circumstances my teenage persona would’ve been proud to acclaim that Taco Time- home of the crispy chicken burrito- was right on the other side of the dog run. As my thoughts raced Mom sheepishly asked what the covered hole in the middle of the dog run was for and I explained that it’s where all the excrement went.
There was a hose neatly coiled up in a corner of the enclosure and when I noticed her gaze I explained that I used that to rinse everything down after I scrubbed the pavement clean. As she continued to remain eerily quiet my nerves got the best of me, and I squeaked what? “Well, Honey…” she began. “I’m going to have to use it soon.” I started to realize how unreal our situation was even as Kelly just happily galloped around me. I wondered if I was going to get fired if we could figure our way out of this.
I decided that our dignity was gone as I turned around to give Mom some kind of privacy, whatever that was while trapped inside an open top enclosure. As I turned my attention skyward, I could hear customers making their way through the Taco Time drive thru. I could clearly make out their words as transactions of money for food were made at the service window. Wait…
That’s it!! I became giddy and nervous as I talked excitedly to Mom about my idea to get the attention of the drive thru attendant and ask them for help. She readily agreed to it but- honestly- what choice did we have? I started by calling for help. Mom and I called out for help repeatedly. It didn’t take long before we heard a voice filtered through a microphone ask if someone was out there. I immediately raised my voice, careful to control my anxiety, and hurriedly told her this:
“Yes! Yes, we need help! We’re trapped inside the dog run at the veterinarian clinic next to your restaurant.”
I must sound insane. They’re never going to believe me.
“Do you need me to call the police?”
Oh, bless you. Whoever you are, thank goodness that you were raised to give some the benefit of a doubt.
“Yes! Yes. The door is locked from the other side so my mother and I can’t get out.”
A moment of silence. Of course. That’s to be expected under the circumstances.
“Alright. Give me a few minutes.”
“Oh, thank you! Thank you so much!!”
A few minutes later…
“Hey! I notified the police and help is on the way!”
“Thank you!”
The sound unlike a soft snicker and then, “You’re welcome.” I deserved that. I’m just glad that help will arrive soon. Mom smiles at me and I grimace a little bit. I can NOT let anyone learn of what has happened here. Especially my friends. I’ll never hear the end of it. As I ask how she’s feeling, we hear a siren in the distance.
The fire department arrives!
Well, that was fast. Another siren joins the first. Maybe an ambulance and a police car? Suddenly two more sirens combine into a literal cacophony of sound nearing closer to the clinic. I stand up and turn around as I stare upward. What on earth do they believe they’re responding to? A robbery?
The sirens are now steady and loud. I imagine four or six fire engines surrounding the Taco Time and veterinarian clinic and I start to feel a little sick. A voice coming from above my head calls out.
“Hello?”
“Uh, yes. Sorry. Yes, we’re trapped inside a dog run- uh, I mean, my mom and I are trapped inside the dog run on the other side of the wall where you are.”
Silence. Then another voice joins in.
“You’re what?? You’re trapped inside a dog run?”
“Yes. Well, it’s where we let the dogs run around- and…use…the bathroom. I work for the veterinarian clinic!”
I start to hear shuffling before a head sporting a fire helmet peaks out above the enclosure. The concerned look on the man’s face melts into a goofy smile as he says to his partner, “Well, this is a first.” My face turns scarlet.
“I’m sorry. The door locks from the other side and my mom didn’t realize until it was too late.”
My Mom simply smiled sweetly up at the fireman and reassured him that we couldn’t figure out any other way to get out. I think the sight of Mom inside the dog run with me was the biggest reason why the fireman instantly regretted his comment and hurried off to investigate. Well, Mom and maybe the sight of Kelly’s cuteness. I’m just saying.
After a few minutes the fireman returned and informed us that the lock on the clinic’s front door wasn’t something that he could pick so he was going to have to break the windowpane closest to the doorknob to gain access. Tears of frustration and anxiety squeezed through my squinting eyes as I told him to go ahead and that I would just have to explain everything to my boss and ask her to take the repair costs out of my pay.
Mom rubbed my shoulder and reassured me that it would be alright, and I believed her because it was my mom telling me this. A few minutes more and we heard the door unlock and a fireman decked out in firefighting gear swung the door open and I could see another fireman walking through the clinic behind him. Holy- Homey and Mishka! Jim! Spock! They can’t get out of the clinic!! I hurriedly asked the fireman about the cats and if he saw them and he immediately reassured me that all four felines were accounted for. In fact, they all froze for a minute after he opened the front door before the kittens headed for the laundry room and Homey just stared at him. As he passed the front desk Mishka cried out a hello and he looked down to see a beautiful tortoise long-hair cat. He removed his glove and briefly pet her head.
We were free, but it was not quite over.
Once the fireman patched up the broken glass with scotch tape and cardboard Mom and I finished offering our gratitude to all the firemen involved and said our goodbyes. I made the awful and awkward call to my boss, Dr. Rebecca Scott, and recited everything that had taken place. Surprisingly, she didn’t charge me. If anything, I think she thought it was funny. A very dry humor but, nevertheless.
In the absence of all the excitement Mom and I suddenly just burst into laughter, tears running down our faces. No one would believe us. Our experience felt one of a kind, truly. By that point the movie had started at least a half an hour ago and, honestly, we were in no hurry.
I can remember when Mom and I creeped through the darkened theater, looking for our seats and the familiar faces of the family. I saw my brother…or maybe my sister…and we both settled into our seats for the rest of the movie, but the plot was difficult to get into while our thoughts settled. Afterward, we told the family what had happened and, as you can imagine, everyone laughed and laughed because it just had to happen to two troublemakers like me and Mom. Simply put, Mom and I were always a strange mother-daughter duo but that is what made me love her even more.
Fast forward to 2020 which is the last time I saw my old boss, Dr. Scott, and she was still doing veterinarian work at a different clinic. Time ages our memories and I don’t think she remembered me anymore, but I explained to her that my Navy career was a success in part because of a lot of the things she taught me when I worked for her. Then I handed her my personal challenge coin and told her that I just wanted to thank her for that. She smiled and I believe some memories came back to her because she asked me if my last name was Espinosa and I told her that it was before I married. It was truly good to see her again even if we couldn’t experience the kind of meaningful conversations that I had with her when we worked at Peninsula Dog and Cat Clinic.
My next article will be something intended to help our transitioning military and veterans. You won’t want to miss out! Please comment and subscribe so you’ll be alerted when new stuff posts. And, to all mothers with love in their hearts, know that you are cherished. Every day. HLC
In propaganda you need a scapegoat, somebody who is going to be blamed for all troubles and tribulations. These will be designated as second-class citizens.
This could be YOU, if you’re not careful.
Propagandists will use a dash of truth in a sea of falsehoods. It is part of their strategy. Propaganda is meant to unify a certain segment of the population, prompting their loyalty while disenfranchising whomever they feel is immediately disposable, or threatening the mass brain-washing directed at their obedient fools.
The sad truth is that there are plenty of second-class citizens right now – but they have not realized that they have been arbitrarily placed in this category – in other words, they might be prisoners in a golden cage, or experiencing a seemingly care free life as “free range cattle” – living blissfully unaware of the overlords’ intentions – until the day they become somebody’s dinner.
I know this example might seem hyperbolic, but the analogy stands. There is no shortage of people who have galvanized a certain level of power, and they are very much aware that if they lose their power this will spell a lot of overdue paybacks.
You see, a lot of people who accumulate power in dubious ways accrue a lot of enemies and resentment along the way. So, they know that if they lose power, they are in a world of hurt. For example, that is why authoritarians surround themselves exclusively by “yes men and women” who will kiss their but no matter how deceitful their “dear leaders” antics get.
Anybody, even those loyal to the “dear leader” will become second-class citizens the very second this aforementioned “dear leader” finds them inconvenient. And we’ve established that the propagandist is likely linked to the dear leader’s intentions. Though we have seen propagandists also find themselves on the precarious side of this sick dynamic, and become very aware of their own mortality and vulnerability against the authoritarian monster they helped to groom and create.
Being labeled a second-class citizen is not limited to your skin color, or even your socio-economic strata. Wealthy people have become second-class citizens if the less-affluent population got enraged at them and stripped them of all power. For example, the French Revolution, or even the Bolshevik Revolution… however, the new rulers will enact a new stratum of power and control.
The way you prevent this from happening is actually the way the USA is intended to be. Everybody has the right to exist in peace and become the person they are meant to be. Of course, there are many retrograde legislators, elected leaders, special interest groups, confused people, theoretical zealots, etc. who want to prevent equality for all. Why? Because they have attained some level of power, and if they lose their power, they know that they will have to legally answer a lot of the shady things that kept them in power.
Yes, historically – and we can cite hundreds of examples around the world that have the “have nots” as the second-class citizens, and again as I said – all of us could be vulnerable to be them, no matter how rich or powerful you think you are right now.
For example, let’s say if there is a dystopia and the middle class rises against the 1% of billionaires in the USA, do you think they really have a chance to fight against the bulk of the middle class? Spoiler alert, they cannot – no matter how rich they are, it becomes a number game. And by the way, it is the middle class who is indeed making them insanely rich. With that, I am not advocating for violence either way, I just want to pragmatically show that who can be a second-class citizen is very subjective – and depends on who’s in the driver’s seat.
What I will say is that whoever is making the decisions could very well lose control, and somebody will be filling that vacuum, we’ve seen that happen around the world and through history many-many times. We can now understand and measure these patterns. The way to prevent a dystopia from sparking is through fairness. That is what I am advocating for. True equality levels the plain field so we can compete based on our merits.
For the USA in our traditionally binary political construct third party candidates don’t usually have much traction, and RIGHT NOW, they can be disrupting.
Too late for Third-Party Candidates.
I’ll be the first one to tell you that the USA does actually need a third-party option, because the binary system we have is indeed flawed. But that does not mean that RIGHT NOW is the optimal time for a third option, because it is not – and that is heartbreaking. Then again, the political climate and lack of understanding of this process by the majority of the collective is what put us in this situation we are currently experiencing.
So, what is the problem? The problem is that a third-party candidate won’t win, period. But they could very well destroy the campaign of any left or right party candidates – depending on where these third-party candidates seem to pander towards on the political spectrum. Yes, third party candidates can come from a high mixture of political leanings. For example, a right-leaning person peppered with some left-leaning attributes, or vice versa – and anything in between.
But the fact is that RIGHT NOW in 2024 a third-party candidate, even if the candidate himself or herself is not aware of this – they can literally destroy our democracy. Does it sound hyperbolic? I wish it was. In this case a third-party candidate would resonate with some of the more undecided, or least savvy group of the voting block – and even with some who just go third party “because they don’t like” either left or right option.
But guess where those third-party votes would go? They go nowhere, except to decrease the number of votes from either left or right party candidate. Yes, I repeat it on purpose. Why? Because at this point in our history YOU as a voter really need to understand what the GOP and Democrat candidate platforms are really about, and what are they actually advocating for. I am not going to tell you how you should vote – I am telling you that your real options in 2024 for the USA are the ones from the larger parties. And no, I don’t like it either.
Probably you have heard by now about some of the controversy surrounding third-party candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (RFK) and his brain-eating worm. That, surprisingly, is the least problematic part of his entire platform. He has a lot of fringe views that are too extreme even for some of the most extreme voters from either side. Yet, they resonate with some of those who are missing context on what it’s been proposed by RFK. For example, his championing of anti-vaccination.
But let’s for a moment go back in history, when Kayne West threw his hat for the US Presidency in 2020 – he lost obviously. But it was likely meant to persuade a lot of democrat voters to leave the party and follow him – even if Kanye never really realized that he was just another element on the presidential campaign strategies from his opposition. In fact, to disrupt the larger opposition candidate. For this we have to understand that political campaigns from the candidate and their opposition are very complex, and depending on how shrewd they are, their tactics can be mind-blowing indeed – for better or worse.
I’ll finish today’s article by saying this. In the USA we have two choices for the 2024 election. One choice is facing criminal charges – right now, and losing his case on the merits – and might get prison time. And has 90+ other criminal charges, his previous cabinet disavowed him at various degrees, and a large number of his circle were found guilty of crimes. The other option is the incumbent President and he has none of the baggage the other candidate is contending with. It should be an obvious choice, but apparently that level of understanding still seems varsity-level for many voters.
Although Incumbent President Biden is not perfect (in reality nobody is perfect), the improvement in America is actually palpable, and many of the popular things right-wing leaders are taking credit for at all levels of government, are the exact same they voted against! Don’t take my word for it, the voting record is open for anybody who wishes to review it. Here, so you don’t have to google it (unless you want to). This is for the US House of Representatives and this is for the Senate. Find out if your favorite politician is lying to your face.
Spoiler alert, many are lying to your face – and insulting your intelligence. By adding some third-party candidates who have a snowball chance in hell of wining allows these toxic elected leaders who are destroying your life to remain unchallenged – because mathematically they are erasing the competition by enabling these distracting candidates to syphon votes away from their opposition. How? Well, for starters you can see if a third candidate is being propped by a party as a” better choice” for their opposition. Yes, it can be THAT obvious.
I’ll be writing more about this topic, and how this adds to the larger topic of Authoritarian Propaganda – because we are all stuck with it. Even if you want to look away it does not matter, because this reality will engulf you too. Meanwhile I invite you to read my book Authoritarianism & Propaganda the Puppet Master Tools, or my many articles, so you can see how history is repeating – and what YOU can do about it. HLC
Have you ever noticed that some authoritarians seem to get away with tons of mayhem, but anybody else is castigated for doing the same stuff? Here is why.
The double standard starts very early.
Authoritarians start their reign of terror as “authoritarians wanna-be” – fortunately most of them are pretty awful at it, and end up drifting into the shadows. Those who graduate to full authoritarian do it because of their clout. In other words, they are only as powerful as their followers allow them to be. Those who drifted in the shadows just could not gain a clout that was “strong enough.”
And this is an important distinction, because authoritarians will traffic on the court of public opinion. Propaganda is meant to be easily digestible, and to “hit a nerve.” In other words, get your emotions to overwrite your common sense and sensibility for pragmatic decision making. And it works, because it makes the targeted people think they are the smartest in the room with a faux-moral superiority, while it can discourage the victims from standing up for themselves. It’s a tactic as old as humanity itself – and it works!
In other words, it has become a game of popularity. And much like a “celebrity” or “star-struck” syndrome, people who are sometimes in the presence of this person can start to develop some sort of affinity. Even if at first impression they did not care for this person. For example, a lot of Ultra MAGAs today did not like Trump at all before. But the more they saw him, the more they became familiarized with him. Suddenly even some of those idiosyncrasies become endearing to them. That’s when the slippery slope gains unmitigated following.
To illustrate this point, I will continue citing former US President Trump as an example of how people can get very emotional and go up in arms in the defense of this object of their affections – or in some instances very much on the offense. And a mirrored but similar emotion might happen in the hearts and minds of his opposition.
Bottomline, this person is already polarizing. This is convenient for any authoritarian propagandist, because people are already primed to “find their place” on the chessboard. And from there it is very easy to exploit the biases from those for or against [in this example] Trump. Even if the propagandist is really targeting Trump’s clout, and is only featuring Trump as another useful [yet prominent] fool in the equation.
Am I saying that Trump is an authoritarian? Not quite, but he is definitely an authoritarian wanna-be, and he exhibits all the traits we’ve seen in history – even if he has not realized it himself. The only difference is that on Trump these red flags and indicators are a lot more prominent and on the nose. Yet this makes his followers cling even more to him. It is paradoxical, but it works. Because they are not as enamored with Trump, as they are enamored with the perception that they did not make a wrong choice by following him.
Any person who literally acts like a cry-baby, who calls sophomoric nicknames to people he dislikes, has a rap sheet longer than a roll of toilet paper, has likely a lot of legal issues, who is opening advocating for illegal activities [ironically in the name of justice], but attacks the same systems that held anybody else accountable – if he is on the receiving end, etc.
We’ve seen this behavior in authoritarians before. And if you think this should be tolerated, let’s say that in this case Biden is exhibiting the same traits? Would Trump followers give Biden the same benefit of the doubt under the same metric? Think about it.
This is a complex topic; therefore, we’ll be breaking it down through many other articles in order to make it easier to understand. The game is complex because it is meant to confuse you. Much like an illusionist uses misdirection to perform a trick – this is similar but much larger in scope and scale. But the end game is the same, to get their adoring followers to fall into an awe-like trance – and implant whatever false reality they want them to perceive as truth.
When it comes to group mentality, it is a lot easier to gravitate towards a particular “reality” in your immediate environment. For example, when people go to a night-club, maybe they are not used to drink in excess or even smoke when they are on their own – but now that they are with this particular group setting and this festive environment, they might feel more enticed to drink or smoke in this social setting.
Something similar happens with brand loyalty. It might be an inferior product – but if that is the one everybody seems to be consuming in this group, soon it will become the “favorite.” People are generally afraid or at the very least very uneasy about change. And once they build some familiarity with a figure, then they tend to automatically lower their guard. Even if the person is menacing – but it is familiar. It’s a strange phenomenon.
But remember what I said at the start of this article. An authoritarian is only as strong as their followers. The last chapter of my book Authoritarianism & Propaganda the Puppet Master Tools goes on detail about it. And it is the last chapter on purpose, because by then you’ll get a huge dose of introspection for what that really means.
This article will also help you get towards that realization. And I am writing many small articles after my books because this topic on authoritarian propaganda is gigantic – and it is already been weaponized against you. That way you can follow along, because everything I am telling you is happening and it will affect you – just like it affected millions of people before us. And many people back then were not paying attention until it was too late. This series is meant to change those dark history chapters from repeating. HLC
The one thing all authoritarians have in common is that they are thin-skinned, which is by the way why they pose as “strong” and domineering. It’s just a façade.
Why are authoritarians thin-skinned?
Simply put, because they know they are a fraud, and they are actually very insecure people. Despite the fact many authoritarians indeed convince their adoring followers that this “dear leader” persona is strong, and self-assured – they cannot hide their insecurities from themselves. That is why authoritarians tend to always act as though they never make mistakes. And if they concede to a mistake is really a humble brag. Yes, they have very low self-esteem under all that bravado.
When I wrote my book Authoritarianism & Propaganda the Puppet Master Tools, I very deliberately chose not to talk about any authoritarian who is currently alive. Why? Because authoritarians [and their acolytes] tend to be extremely vindictive. Hence, unless they come back from their death, then it was safer for me to speak about their deeds from recorded history. However, there is no shortage of authoritarians who are very much alive right now. This also includes plenty of authoritarian wanna-be folks who are gaining a lot of traction.
I’ve been speaking on this topic for quite a while now, and everything I’ve predicted has very much occurred. What’s coming next is a lot worse and that is why I continue writing so much about it. Even though it feels I generally scream into a void. And the reason why this is frustrating is because meanwhile the antics of current authoritarians are gaining more and more traction. Especially when authoritarians and authoritarian wanna-be personalities are spewing all the indicators I describe in exuberant detail.
J. Marcelo Baqueroalvarez Authoritarianism & Propaganda The Puppet Master Tools.
Enter the “yes men and women.”
Did you know that you’re an accessory to a crime if you witness it and decide to simply look the other way? For example, if you witness domestic abuse from your neighbor and let it be, and this violence escalates to the point a person victimized in that household dies – what was your role in this crime? Well, it would be your failure to enact bystander intervention [perhaps calling the authorities], and I know this example is very much on the nose, but something similar – and often more complex happens with authoritarianism.
Every authoritarian in history (to include the history we are writing right now) surrounds himself or herself with obedient loyalist, these useful fools will parrot and make mental gymnastics to justify whatever antic, misdeed, crime, misdemeanor, legal trouble, accusation, or anything else that would be challenging to the “dear leader.” And some of those rationales will be very weak at best, and indeed very insulting to the intellect of any person who has two brain cells to rub.
But this gaslighting they perform is because they are pandering to an audience of one, the “dear leader” – they realize that by feeding the authoritarian’s ego, they get to log a bit more “face-time” with this perceived powerful figure. What they forget is that they (their adoring acolytes) are also disposable, no matter how much they compromise their principles, dignity, and even their humanity. Authoritarians only care about themselves. Some are shrewder than others, but if they show any type of interest in you it is because it is primarily self-serving to them.
That is why you’ll see the acolytes going out of their way to make the “dear leader” feel as that they are smarter than everybody else, and if the “dear leader” says something demonstrably moronic, they will “interpret” on whatever they “think” this person said – in a manner that would be [hopefully] less moronic. Just realize that if you see a pedantic, loud-mouthed figure who viciously attacks his opponents, it is very likely because this person is insecure. They have low self-esteem, because they know they are never as good as their opposition. Even if his adoring fans think they are better – it is all a façade.
Every “strong man” in history who was ruling with an iron fist was actually a very weak person. They relied on the muscle of their followers to incite their faux bravado, and have their followers perpetrate heinous crimes against humanity. It is because they are weak. Real strength comes with fortitude of character, by understanding that sometimes we are wrong, but we can become better than we were yesterday by improving on our shortcomings.
Authoritarians cling to your biases, and project their insecurities onto you. That is why a lot of their acolytes display furious rage when defending their “dear leader.” People around the world had realized these indicators way too late. I am here to give you that important shortcut, because time is at a premium, and we are collectively behind the power curve, and the authoritarians and authoritarians wanna-be are very close to reaching the finish line. HLC
To TRULY control the narrative is a lot more abstract than most people think. In fact, some indicators would be akin to playing poker by showing your cards.
A potential propagandistic factor.
“First with the truth” – this was the official rationale that communication methods used to push a story. The premise is that whomever is the first one with to speak up, they are the first ones to “control the narrative.” I am here to fly the BS flag. That might feel idealistic, and make sense on paper – but the human mind is a lot more complex than that oversimplified concept.
For example, there are folks who believe the world is flat, or that the moon landings were fake. There are literally millions of resources to prove the validity for the world being round and the fact that mankind went to the moon, but misguided skepticism will prevail on their minds. In fact, some people who think the world is flat or believe the moon-landing conspiracy are probably pretty upset when reading this article.
That proves my original point, that controlling the narrative is extremely subjective. And quite frankly, great numbers of people will choose to believe what they WANT, and that WANT is not necessarily tied to empirical reality. This phenomenon is actually more tied to bias exploitation, and the fact that people hate being called out for being wrong – and would prefer to cling to any mistake than accept they were wrong.
But news flash! We ALL can be wrong at some point – in fact we all make mistakes. It is part of learning. Two things in life you cannot buy are talent and experience. The way to build talent is through experience, and the way you build experience will have a substantial amount of trial and error. That’s fine and expected. Yet some people struggle with that simple reality.
Not everything is at it seems, and yes – sometimes reality might seem counterintuitive to a casual observer (even if they feel they are keen observers) – if you see it from a flawed vantage point, then YOUR PERCEPTION of reality will be skewed. Case in point, flat-earthers. They don’t have a first-hand vantage point to rationalize the physical planetary reality, and when presented with actual scientific methods to debunk that misperception – if they accept that science was actually correct, then that will imply that the flat-earthers (for this example) were incorrect – and if they were wrong about this, in their minds the struggle will be… what ELSE are they wrong about?
This is terrifying for anybody who already has an exploited bias. This is because it [sometimes unconsciously] would make them feel that their entire life was a farse, and they were exponentially foolish – especially if they were adamant at spewing [or arguing and debating otherwise] basic science and debunkable points with people who spent their lives studding and making a living on those scientific fields.
J. Marcelo Baqueroalvarez Authoritarianism & Propaganda The Puppet Master Tools.
How can this be exploited through propaganda?
I said it before, and it is worth repeating. People hate being told they are wrong. Especially if somehow, deep inside, even if they try to conceal it – they have no iota of perception that they might very well be wrong. Most people have this internal barometer, kind of like an instinctual guide to know if we are on the wrong track.
One way to know if you’re wrong is if somebody challenges you and your natural response is going ape s–t about it (even if you try to keep your composure). In reality you’re angrier at yourself, and you are reflecting that frustration on the person who points that mistake out to you. Much like if you’re in a toxic relationship and your sibling tells you that your significant other is cheating on you – you’re likely going to snap at your sibling, and cling and doble down in favor of the toxic relationship.
Deep inside, you probably know that you’re been cheated upon, and that this relationship is going nowhere fast – but you are just NOT READY to DEAL with it RIGHT NOW. Hence, mental gymnastics will spin until hopefully things work themselves out, and try to give you another glimpse of being in the right place. This is by the way why people look for a confirmation bias in their cozy echo chambers. I know, mind-blown, huh?
Therefore, when you’re trying to control the narrative – if you are dealing with a group that is already compromised, the reality might not mean jack s—t to them, because they are not ready to accept it. If anything, they will double down on the fallacy. But if you’re actually a person who has not been compromised, then these indicators – if they are intended for propaganda – will seem extremely obvious.
In my booksAuthoritarianism & Propaganda the Puppet Master Tools, and Woke & Proud the Charlatans’ Inconvenience, as well as the several dozens of articles I am offering for you for free in all my official platforms – are intended to teach you how to identify propaganda miles away. And how to flip the authoritarian propagandist narrative on its head. We’ll be talking more about this topic, because it is actually an existential threat, and like it or not we are all in this together. Why? Because we live on the same planet, that’s why. HLC
Few things are as accelerating as when a powerful figure seems to be reading your mind, and speaking to the masses in a belligerent manner. Is that good?
The pedantry of hostile politics.
A demagog is able to exploit people’s most basic instincts. That primal emotion that excites the crowds when they are “owning” or “defying” whomever is that the collective decided that needs to get squashed or punished in any way. This is a strong catalyst, because it makes people get a rush of dopamine – especially if everybody in that group feels just as fired up.
That is why you see during political debates that a zinger, or another “sick burn” that can be scored against their opponent will have a lot more views, likes, reactions, shares, and clout than actual policy and substance. And yes, the modern media algorithms are designed to reward those primal feelings, because that is what glues people’s eyes to the screen.
On my book Authoritarianism & Propaganda the Puppet Master Tools, I very much explain how this phenomenon exists, and it has existed pretty much from millennia. My book cites specific examples from the Bolshevik revolution, but this is a very well utilized tactic, even though a lot of the younger and older crowds, along with their unsuspecting minds, fall for it – quite easily I might add. Do you have an old relative who gets fired up if you talk about politics or religion? There you go.
The more a person feels they are in the right, the more they will gravitate towards whomever seems to be reading their mind. This is because they feel this person speaking so intensely “gets him or her” – whatever doctrine is that they are pushing for. This is not a “left or right” side of the political spectrum; it works well no matter where in that gamma you might be sitting. Why? Because it is a human trait, or in this case a human vulnerability.
Politicians – not all, but a sizable number of them – will lie in your face and even cry theatrically if that serves their purpose. Many others, especially as they are gaining clout, will be very much on the attack against anybody they consider their enemy, and they will use this faux bravado as a badge of honor to assert dominance over the crowd they are performing for. And the more impressionable minds will buy it all with gusto. It’s pretty sad actually.
Why? Because people might forget what the hell you told them, but they sure as hell will remember how they felt. That is why it is very easy for many thousands of people to parrot talking points and buzz words. They sound absolutely watertight when you’re in an echo chamber, but when you put that into actual scrutiny, you’ll soon find out that those arguments have the water integrity of a hairnet.
It is not so much as WHAT you say, but HOW you say it will entice the audiences. It is a method of exploitation. If you’ve been following this series of articles for a while, then you know what they are after – the biases! A person who has strong biases will be easily exploited, while convincing them that they’re the smartest person in the room. They are not, it’s a swindle, much like when a person is getting scammed. It sounds good a promising but there is a lot of information left about their decision-making prowess.
When a politician seems to be very intense, and attacking their opponents as a person – but not on the substance of their claims or doctrine – then you know that they are demagogs. Accountability based on the merits is very different than somebody throwing a sophomoric attack, such as a derogatory nickname to another candidate. If the latter is true for your candidate of choice, and you enjoy it – your mind has been highjacked. They are exploiting you.
Yes, I know this might make you mad. Don’t get mad at me, I am teaching you how to break free from that. Get mad at the demagog who is playing with your emotions and your feelings. They are insulting your intelligence. I am here to tell you that we are all vulnerable to fall for this trap, but once you realize that it is a trap then you can avoid falling for it. To learn more, keep reading my articles, they will set you free. HLC
No, the civil rights movement led by Dr. Martin Luther King did not eradicate racism in America. What it did was give a STARTING POINT to a leveled plain field.
Understanding Racism.
It is unsavory, and several still think it is a moot point, even in America, the land of the free – home of the brave, to even think that racism exists. It has been in a larger scope almost camouflaged, but sadly it is very much a reality. And what it is more insidious is that it is not only regaining traction, but it is also morphing into negatively affecting even more groups than just those who are linked by the color of their skin.
When you see it pragmatically, then you realize the obvious: Racists are extremely ignorant people, not just in the sociological aspect of how cultures work, but even in the actual anatomical and evolutionary process of how human beings adapted to their environment based on geography. By the way, a lot of racists for several reasons don’t understand evolution, hence they don’t accept the theory of evolution either way. Which is on its own an additional bag of witfully ignorant issues.
The fact is that the human “races” do not really exist. We might have different skin colors, and share some similar looks depending on the geographical origin; but we are all the same species. Yes, we can interbreed, and if you get a life-saving blood transfusion, it does not matter what the color of the skin from the donor. It will be human blood regardless. In fact, our skin color is directly linked to our ancestors’ geographical dwellings, and how sunlight affects those areas.
Melamine is the natural substance that causes the pigmentation of our eyes, skin, and hair color. The more melamine you have, the darker these will get. What’s the purpose? It prevents you from getting roasted under the hot sun to the point you would get skin cancer. It’s part of the wonderful human evolution process. That is why many folks get tanned when they go to the beach, because the body produces melamine to try to protect them from the sun rays.
But if you’re a person with a very light skin tone, you might not tan at all, but actually get directly sunburn. That trait would be genetically passed as your ancestors developed in an area where the sun was not as intense as other areas. Hence, that is why a lot of people in the northern hemisphere have lighter skin, and many of us on the tropics and southern hemisphere will have a darker complexion.
In other words, the lighter skin was a consequence to allow people living on those areas as much scarce sun exposure as they could, and the darker skin was to protect them from the excessive amounts of sun. And that is why color pigmentation is prevalently linked to geography. Sure, that today the world is more globalized and it will take many generations to adjust people’s skin color, but remember that humans have been wondering the planet for several thousands of years.
That is why I said before that we are all human no matter what color skin, hair, or eyes we have. Every person is a human being, and racism robs them from their humanity. And that racism, or misunderstanding of cultures is a prime catalyst for opportunistic demagogs, propagandists, authoritarians, and “authoritarians-wanna be” to boost people’s ignorance to mobilize the most ignorant segment against a particular group of people.
J. Marcelo Baqueroalvarez Authoritarianism & Propaganda The Puppet Master Tools.
Racism is dynamic, sadly.
Let me emphasize that it is geography and the actual intensity of the sun what will dictate how much melamine you will get. Let me give you a quick example, although I am from Hispanic descent I am fairly light skinned. But when I was in the US Navy underway and having to be topside for a while, my skin got a lot darker on any area that was exposed to the sun, mainly my face, neck, arms, and hands. But the rest of my body was still as pale as before I was spending time topside under the blazing sun. I was still the same person, but my skin color adjusted to protect me from the harmful sun rays.
Sadly, simply put skin color is not the only trait that racist will ping on. They will also start hitting a group’s culture. And I will give you an example from history that it is very much on the nose, but it shows how despicable this double standard existed even in the West – and while fighting a global conflict. This example dates to World War II. As many people know the USA, Great Britain and the Soviet Union were fighting the axis of evil – which was essentially Nazi Germany, Fascist Italy, and the Empire of Japan.
When the counter-propaganda, and other literature that was generated by the USA to depict the adversary it was very riddled with racist overtones. The Nazis, who were also majority white would be depicted as malign, but not dehumanized. In contrast, when the same war-publication efforts were depicting Japanese people, they were depicted in a subhuman form. More akin to stereotypical and exaggerated caricatures, and in very grotesque manners.
Both of these groups, Nazi Germany and the Empire of Japan were adversarial forces, and both were foes who rightfully had to be held accountable for their crimes against humanity. Yet only one of those two adversaries was depicted as subhuman. Unsurprisingly, for Nazi Germany, they also depicted Jewish, Roma, disabled, or any other groups they disenfranchised as subhuman. Racism is nothing new, and to a large extent it was condoned, and in many households in America it is very much condoned and taught as morally superior – even if they try to keep in under wraps – and only share these views within a certain group of like-minded (and-looking) folks.
But what it is also happening now at an exacerbated rate is racism by association. In other words, discrimination against people who have a certain color of skin, but being discriminated against if they have a relationship with a person of a different skin color. How terrible is that trend? It is very disturbing, because nowadays it seems that those who have the most divisive rhetoric are getting the most attention, and many less-than-informed folks seem to be agreeing to their misinformation at face value.
One of such cases is why I wrote my book Woke & Proud the Charlatans’ Inconvenience. Because the demonization of the term “woke,” sadly has a very large racist component to it, even though some people don’t realize it. And in fact, are not even able to define the term. I defined it, and I use it as a case study for propagandistic narratives, as I wrote in my book Authoritarianism & Propaganda the Puppet Master Tools.
I will leave you with this for today. We – today -cannot be held responsible for what our ancestors did. However, we are very much responsible for the decisions and actions WE take ourselves TODAY. I’ll be writing a lot more thought-provoking articles like this, please follow the entire series. It will be more than 100 articles like this one. HLC
