Tag: politics

 

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.

 

They draw their power from you!

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

 

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.

 

This Point in American History.

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

 

There is a reason why people warn us about speaking about politics in mixed company.  Politics are often felt but not understood, and are indeed incendiary.

 

Overwriting your common sense.

Depending on your personal circumstances at the time you’re gaining fascination towards a political figure – something inside your mind turns off your cognitive awareness and becomes a “reflection” of your own person.  For better or worse.  Not all politicians are bad, but many are indeed very toxic.  These toxic personalities are wittingly or sometimes by chance able to ride on a person’s bias.

From there it gets a lot more insidious.  Because if a person is indeed following a demagog, the unsuspecting new fan for this demagog actually becomes the frontline victim.  Understand that a demagog is only in for himself or herself – and perhaps a very narrow group of insiders.  But even those insiders will become disposable if they start becoming inconvenient.  The adoring fans and followers were always disposable.  They are really just means to an end.  The demagogs’ adoring follower’s primary role is to do the dirty work that the demagog would not do directly.  This is how.

They implant easy to repeat slogans, talking points, buzz words, and other oversimplified concepts to their political base, and the media they consume.  They will portrait themselves as the only group capable of fixing this “problem” that perhaps was not a problem at all – but if it is labeled a “problem” the adoring fans will galvanize their collective strength to solve it, or at the very least sabotage whomever is carrying out that “problem” into fruition.  Let’s define the “problem” under this article.

The ”problem” is whatever the demagog finds inconvenient.  The actual substance or merits for this “problem” are irrelevant.  The demagogs traffic in the court of public opinion, because often their arguments are so weak that they cannot hold its relevance under scrutiny if another systematic construct is utilized.

For example, common sense, or perhaps a court of law.  That is why the demagogs will highjack both.  Turn people’s common sense off in favor of an exploited bias.  And if they get any legislative power, they will do all they can to corrupt the courts into ruling in their favor.   This is happening around the world, and yes, the USA is also in the world.

 

They are lying on your face.

Let’s start with a simple fact.  When something is true, it does not matter how intricate of complex all the data and information gets, or from what source it comes from – all the arguments, pieces, timelines, primary, derived, and follow-on sources will automatically synchronize effortlessly.  You won’t have to “interpret” what was said from the mouth of a person.  A fact is logical, measurable, and demonstrable.  If it does not meet this trifecta its conjecture.

A demagog somehow understands this, even if not word for word as I described, but they do understand that they cannot tell the “entire story” to their adoring fans because there are some shady things that are inconvenient, and could very well destroy the demagog’s façade of being the better option.  They know deep inside that the information in full context will expose them for what they are, a pedantic farse that is swindling their very adoring fans.

It is almost like a pyramid scheme, they do not really care about what the product is, so long those in the lower parts of the pyramid are buying it, and paying up to the higher echelons.  In politics, when it comes to this pyramid scheme, the followers might not always pay with money, although that is also very likely.  For example, merchandise, donations, time, effort, free advertising (as becoming a parroting fools), and their principles and credibility is also put on the balance – especially if a person is backing up a controversial figure.

What does that mean?  That means that the first victims from a demagog are their adoring followers!  If they can convince this group of people that they are anointed with the moral superiority of the equation, they will have a higher proclivity for disassociating and subsequently dehumanizing anybody who is not onboard with the “dear leader’s” will.

But when you’re supporting the wrong narrative, there is often a small sense where you instinctively know you’re on the wrong track.  This is exploitable too!  Because people hate being wrong, and if this is exposed, even by proxy, then a compromised person is likely to double down in favor of their mistake.  Subsequently even talking about it becomes taboo, or they become irate if confronted, and at that point rationality be damned, it will be an emotional [and sadly natural] response to “cling to their mistake.”

To quickly illustrate how this works, it is much like been in a toxic relationship.  Everyone who cares about you is telling you that the person you’re with is harming you, but you’ll tell all those who love you to kick rocks, and you cling to the toxic relationship regardless, after all you “invested so much” on this toxic person, you “can’t accept you were wrong” – even though you’re clearly unhappy.

Eventually, you cannot sustain this charade any longer, and you have to acknowledge what those who loved you pointed out from the start.  This will be traumatizing, and takes a lot of courage to overcome this bias.  It is easy to fall into the trap, it is a lot harder to get out.  This series of articles are meant to help you escape if you’re trapped, or to help others escape if you wish to help them.  .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.

Many politicians will lie to your face.

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

 

It is very easy to fall into the authoritarian’s propagandistic trap, it is designed to be easily assimilated.  If you’ve fallen for it this will help you escape.

 

Propaganda is designed to make you an obedient fool.

In my book Authoritarianism & Propaganda the Puppet Master Tools, I go in detail about how this works, and how to defeat authoritarian propaganda.  It takes people, and by people it means everybody, and by everybody it means it starts with ourselves.  Yes, we can be the catalyst that will make it better or worse for everybody.

I wish I was being hyperbolic, but the fact is that some of the most dehumanizing authoritarian monsters in history were not very remarkable themselves until they got enough traction because others had certain exploitable biases, and from there these obedient fools became the muscle to impose whatever is it that these authoritarians were advocating for.  What is it that they were advocating for?  It did not quite matter, so long as it was against whomever or whatever they said they were against.

In every society people are going to be frustrated by something.  And this anger is largely irrelevant in the great scheme of things, but it will be crucial to convince people that they are on the winning team.  They are actually not in the winning team (all authoritarians ended powerless), but they are convinced that their “sacrifices” – of sacrificing others in dehumanizing ways is actually a justifiable move.  This is also happening around the world as you’re reading my words.

 

You’re actually disposable to them, but your rage becomes their currency.

Authoritarians will be posing as unifiers towards whatever group of chosen ones are playing ball along with the authoritarian – and will be extremely divisive towards anybody who was deemed outside this “exclusive circle.”  It is designed to be that way, they want you to see others as lesser human, or even rob them of all humanity, and also the propagandists will make you fear this dissenting group – while portraying them as weaker.

So, anybody with common sense would ask, which one is it?  Are they weak, or are they a menace?  Well, the enemy is actually the one advocating for divisiveness, because they want you to protect the leader, even if you sacrifice yourself – because now this dear leader becomes symbolic of whatever is it that you’re convinced it is the moral superior end-state – even if the dear leader advocates for crimes against humanity.

We’ve all fallen for a similar (hopefully not genocidal) trap at some point.  Think for example while in school picking on the weaker kid, or any outsider.  Fortunately, most people grow up from that immature phase and become decent to other people in their lives.  But that is not the case for everybody.  Propagandists don’t want you to mature, they want you to “feel like a grown up” – but they are keeping you subdued.

The trick is that the way they subdue you is by moving that hate and resentment towards other people.  The victims become scape goats for any shortcomings.  And shortcomings will abound, because authoritarians are not running a utopia, they are enslaving your obedience, and the moment you wake up they will push you away from the circle of trust before you realize what just hit you.

Authoritarian propaganda is designed to be that way.  How do you escape from that?  Don’t be divisive, understand the context so you can separate facts from fiction.  If you forget anything I’ve said, remember this – understand the full context, and realize why a narrative is being directed towards your anger.  HLC

 

Every commercial you consume with a political platform was not presented to you by chance.  There is a skill behind it designed to modify your behavior.

 

Understanding Advertisement for Propaganda.

Even when it comes to the “not so mundane” world of marketing, there is a lot of behavioral science to entice your impulse to buy or acquire a product or service.  Yes, that is why there is an entire industry whose entire premise is to present something to you in a way that it becomes irresistible, or to elicit a specific response – which can even be looking away from it.  I know, paradoxically THAT can sometimes be the intent.

For example, if you are a person who does not have a vast amount of disposable income, a very ornate package that goes well above your budget might not be as enticing if you somehow find that your environment gravitates to that particular shiny object.  You know the trope, too many people spend money they don’t have to buy things they don’t need, to impress people they don’t even like.

Based on group mentality, the actual need for frugality or justified sense of opportune austerity will be overwritten – even if for a moment, and placing a person into actual unavoidable austerity.  Example?  Sure, a person who is broke, but goes out to party all night and spends north of $500 in alcohol just to regurgitate it all to a porcelain idol in a public restroom a few hours ago.  Did that activity sound like a good investment of time when you’re broke?

However, at that moment – even if there were some second guesses through the night if this broke person should be partying and spending their rent money, might have sounded very swell – because of the company they were [hopefully] enjoying.  With political propaganda it’s a similar principle, but a lot more complex and not so much on the nose as this example.  That is why it is so effective.

They are manipulating your demographics.

If you forget anything I say later, remember this “target audience” – this is how political messaging will be directed for propagandistic purposes to a particular segment of the population.  The difference with propaganda is that it is directly targeted to exploit your biases.  They don’t even care if you’re for or against their political leanings – they just want to know if you will play ball or not.

If you do play along, great!  They will find a way to make you feel like you are the smartest kid on the block and everything you interact with will somehow be magically agreeing with your version of “good” and demonizing the same version of “evil.”  The bigger your bias, the higher the proclivity for obediently following whatever is it that the pretty talking head is telling you to believe – because everyone else seems to agree with what you’ve led to see as an empirical truth.

If you do not play along, well – too bad, because they will either make you the enemy, or discredit you outright.  If you get inconvenient enough the character assassination attempts to you and anybody who agrees with you will follow.  The good news is that when you’re speaking the truth it does not matter if or how somebody tries to skew it, the truth will always come to surface, even if it takes a while to filter itself all the way up to the top.

However, the higher the level of propaganda in the environment, the longer the truth will take to surface, or to even be taken seriously by the collective – even if it is in plain sight.  Want another example?  Controversial influencers saying something that is demonstrably wrong.  You choose the topic, being science denial, cult-like behavior, divisive rhetoric, or a token dissident against their own demographics.  All those will gain following and copycats will follow suit quite rapidly, but why?  Because negative trends are easily assimilated and transmitted.  Which is actually pretty sad, but it happens.

For example, it is a lot easier to make a mess in your domicile than to clean a mess at home.  But if you’re keeping up with a proper balance then making a mess will not be normalized, and you will be more likely to police yourself before it gets unmanageable.

The same is true for propaganda, the more attention you pay to actual facts, and learn to distinguish from the noise and misinformation, the easier it will be for you to navigate yourself away from being bamboozled.  Much like some people can spot a scam miles away, while others – the more vulnerable ones, will fall for a scam with very little resistance.  HLC

Notice I said turning into an authoritarian STATE, because it stars from micro to macro on federal constructs.  Authoritarianism is indeed growing!

 

States pave the way for a larger path.

Let’s understand that the United States of America is not only a melting pot of every culture on the planet, but itself it is a conglomeration of very different walks of life spanning territories around the world.  Yes, we have 50 states, but we also have a lot of territories spanning the globe (16 actually).  Those are also the United States of America, but don’t have the same power as a full-fleshed state.  Particularly when it comes to voting power.

Have you heard of Guam, or American Samoa, Puerto Rico, or Washington D.C.?  Those are also part of the United States of America, but they don’t have the same number of privileges as the actual states in the union.  For example, there are no senators for those areas, despite the fact they have millions of people combined.  A more accurate way to label them is “colonies” but the term “territory” it’s the modern accepted label.

What does this mean to us?  It means that if a law or a regulation is made by 100 senators (2 pers state), it will affect them [the Americans living in these US territories] too, but they technically don’t have any say.  They have their delegates, but to be honest they don’t have much power.

But something similar happens at a macro level, some states can block a bill or an improvement to the country, simply because their representatives choose to impose a change.  Even if the change does not take effect, the simple process of it being added to the national discourse can start derailing the empirical truth of the matter, and move a fact into an “opinion” realm where people end up voting against their best interests.

Eroding your civil liberties.

The way the US Government System was created is truly remarkable, and genius – in the sense that it was meant to bring checks and balances, and help find a win-win for ALL people living within its confines.  But the system is also very susceptible to exploitation, because there are loopholes that allow certain groups of people to have a louder voice over others.

For example, have you ever wondered why there is a North and South Dakota?  Well, it was divided to raise from two to four senators who were politically aligned.  Something similar happened in other states in our union, and by the way it is one of the reasons why the same group of people don’t want the District of Columbia to be a state.  It is all about the legislative voting power.  That’s where the laws get pushed – or kill on arrival.  And this division has grown starker.

For the purposes of this article I won’t go into specifics (because there are literally thousands) – I’ll write more articles about it.  For now I want you to understand the mechanics of the matter, and that the state can be fair for all citizens or it could be a restrictive society inside an otherwise free society.  And it hence become a model that will either get traction and spread across the land, or if we pay attention – become a warning on what they’re doing, and how they are eroding the rights from certain people inside their geography.  And hopefully stop it on its tracks.

And I said before, certain, because an authoritarian state has different rules that apply to the masses than to those on the driver’s seat.  But to answer the question, are we moving into an authoritarian state?  The answer is “YES” – in fact some states are very much authoritarian already, they just have not spread to the rest of the country yet.  But if we remain asleep at the wheel, they will truly take over your lives.

The United States of America is not the only one suffering from this trend, there are many European and world-wide “free” countries who are experiencing this negative situation.  It is going to get worse.  That is why I write about it; lately in little bites because the context is gigantic.  Keep reading because it will help you digest the importance of our current world events.  HLC

 

Authoritarian chapters in world history are repeating, and the red flags have been waving for a while now.  However, it seems that many continue to dismiss them.

 

Authoritarian red flags are abundant.

Authoritarians tend to look as though they “suddenly” rose to power.  That’s not the case, they simply followed the path of least resistance to people’s biases.  This actually can take a long time in some instances, but it is based on normalizing the insanity of their rhetoric.  Soon enough, those who were not paying attention will realize they were asleep at the wheel.

I can ask right now many westerners, and that includes many Americans a simple question.  Who is the current, and duly elected president of the United States of America?  And a very high percentage of the population I’ve cited will give you the wrong answer.  By the way, it is President Joe R. Biden – and he has been the US President since he won the election in 2020.

Authoritarian and adversarial regimes will want you to think that is not the case.  Or that he was not duly elected.  In fact, it is part of their official narrative.  As a rule of thumb, if you think that something might be against the USA, then listen to the state-sponsored propaganda from an adversarial regime.  If it matches the words coming out of the mouth of your favorite talking head, that should perk your ears up.

Authoritarians, “authoritarians-wanna” be, and their useful foolish acolytes are fairly easy to spot – surprise!  They will have any if not all of these attributes I’m about to mention, either as a person or as a collective.  Of course, an authoritarian is only as powerful as their followers, so if their acolytes subscribe to that behavior, then it becomes a multiplier – although it is a lot more fragile than they realize.

This is a non-all-inclusive list, but should get you started:

·       They are petulant, which will display their obvious narcissism.

·       They are wimps.  They will have a thin skin for criticism, and will retaliate ten if not million-fold for any little bit of criticism.

·       They will gaslight their own supporters, they will ask you not to believe your lying eyes or ears – and let alone do your own research.

·       They will “unify” their acolytes, but they will be very divisive with everybody else.  Even former acolytes who fell out of favor will be severely punished – even if through words or any other form of humiliation.

·       They are NEVER wrong – in their minds, and will do any types of mental gymnastics to justify their rationale.  Which usually lacks substance or merits.

·       They will have no shortage of legal trials or other history of somebody who has been F-in-the-A by them, literally and figuratively.  They will always claim innocence.

·       They will ask for immunity to do whatever they want, because they intend to do what they want without any limits or accountability.

·       They will insult their opposition, give them sophomoric nicknames, and generally surround themselves with people who are just as shallow as they are.

·       They will surround themselves by “yes men and women” – because they cannot take criticism, and this by the way is unsustainable, because then all these spineless people become a rubber stamp to their narcissism.

·       They will objectify men and women, and especially attractive people will be paraded more as trophies and a commodity, rather than a person.

·       They will dehumanize others outside their circle, and even their own insiders will be punished if for some reason they are outside the circle of obedience.

 

 

Are you placing yourself on the wrong side of history?

I can go on with my list, but hopefully that will help the mind-wheels to start turning.  In my book Authoritarianism & Propaganda the Puppet Master Tools I expand on this topic.  If you have fallen victim to this trend, don’t beat yourself up – for too long.  But do something about it.  This is what you can do:

Stop giving an authoritarian your undivided attention and loyalty, because you don’t mean jack-s-t to them already, and the very second you become inconvenient to them you’ll be fittingly disposed.  In fact, you’ve probably have seen many on their orbit who had a high position being disposed of, very unceremoniously, and often in a cruel manner to be “made an example” for others.

When somebody asks for unlimited loyalty, that is a red flag – because that means they will ask you do some stuff you will probably regret later.  If you don’t take heed and still keep doing whatever that you are doing to support the authoritarian despite the fact your life just got f-ked – well, they love that, because that means you’re exactly the kind of dumb muscle they need to keep their narcissistic existence from collapsing.

The catch is that authoritarianism is not sustainable.  Not one authoritarian in history has thrived forever, their circle of trust became a circle of obedience, and little by little it shrank to the point they were all against each other.  Yes, the same team who was first “against the rest of the world” – becomes a dog-eat-dog bunch.  How to defeat and prevent this from taking over your life is by paying attention to the red flags I mentioned.  HLC

 

As the media cycle moves fast, one important story gets buried.  Former U.S. President Trump is nowhere near as rich as he claimed to be, why should YOU care?

 

Who owns his debt?  Would they own the country?

Former U.S. President Donald J. Trump has always drawn a line when it came to people insinuating about his wealth.  Why?  Well, the answer is now very obvious, and it has been legally demonstrated – because he is not the billionaire he claims to be.  He is a wealthy man, but he is cash poor.  Not being exceedingly rich is not a bad thing, most people in the world are not billionaires, or even millionaires for that matter.  The problem is the lies.

So, what if Trump exaggerated about his wealth?  What’s the big deal?  Glad you asked, because it matters a lot.  For starters, if a person is shallow enough to pretend that they are richer than they are – it’s for mainly one of two reasons.  First, because they either want to get better rates for loans and services, and use their allure of these riches as leverage.  And that is fraud.

The other it is a lot sadder, because that means that they are in-fact lesser than THEY expected THEMSELVES to be – and instead of accepting the facts or moving towards that goal, they pretend they are richer than they are – perhaps to feel better about themselves, but the fact is that they will have to realize that their claims remain false, no matter how many people think these claims are true.  Pretending you’re rich does not make you truly rich – might increase your debt though.

So, two problems – both are very problematic sides to the same coin.  On the former because that means that they have likely used that leverage to do something that is illegal, and will have to forever watch their backs.  And the second is because it is an exploitable factor.  Especially if there is somebody with liquidity who would help them “maintain that façade” in exchange for favors and access.  It has been reported Trump experienced both of those instances, many times over.

We know now for a fact that Trump has made a lot of very shady deals.  He was civilly charged in New York for almost a half-a-billion dollars.  He has been unable to pay for these fines.  Or even find anybody who would actually lend him the money until he tries to appeal.  And this is after Trump was granted an unprecedented break to only pay a fraction of the fine – still, he has been unable to pay any of his bills.

Stiffing others it’s Trump’s Modus Operandi (MO)

If you’ve been alive since at least the 80’s, and unless you were stuck under a rock you would have heard of Trump’s countless hassles (airlines, steaks, water, games, etc.).  Many of which went under.  Generally, via bankruptcy.  I mean, for example his “savvy business man” went bankrupted not one but four times regarding his casinos in Atlantic City, NJ!

But he is also known for not paying his legal bills.  Want examples?  Sure Rudy Guiliani, and the entire entourage who was part of his upcoming criminal charge in Georgia for election interference were all hung out to try by Trump, owing millions in legal fees to support Trump’s claim of a rigged election.  Something that not one of the many trials has been able to prove at all – no one in more than 60.

Right now, every donation that goes to the GOP, as it has Trump’s daughter in Law Lara Trump in charge of the RNC, if you’re a donor – well it is first going to pay for Trump’s legal fees – then to whatever is it that your campaign donation is supposed to do.  And yes, donations have taken a plunge in the GOP, and Trump has also destroyed the Grand Old Party with a poignant civil war between so called MAGA Republicans and pretty much everybody else in the conservative universe.

Trump for years was hiding his taxes, and he was very controlling of any release of his finances – even directing his cabinet while being a sitting president to prevent this to be seen by the American people.  Why do you think that it is important?  Because we need to know if the leader of the free world, and the person in control of the nuclear codes does not have a loan shark from an adversarial nation.

Why?  Because if they do, then they are in fact governing our country via Trump’s wallet – rather than the leader of the free world working for the American people.  It should be common sense, but it needs to be spelled out.  Why?  Because right now, since nobody wants to lend trump money to pay his fines, this opens the door for foreign donors to buy influence on a presidential front runner.  And yes, that is bad – because then the country gets governed by a loan shark.  You don’t want that, do you?

Final thought, don’t get mad at me, rather keep digging for yourself and find out more context for what I’ve mentioned.  Trump’s team is working hard to hide this information from you.  The information that reaches your ears by his team is carefully selected, keep researching on your own.  You’ll thank me later.  HLC

 

The puppet master is the shadowy figure or entity that is actually controlling the entire debacle, even if this control is designed to be utter chaos.

 

The face tends to remain anonymous.

On my book Authoritarianism & Propaganda the Puppet Master Tools, I help you discover this Puppet Master.  And spoiler alert, it might be a bunch of puppet masters behind the scenes competing for power.  The catch is that most people will never really get to know who it is actually pulling the strings.  It is designed to be that way.

Every authoritarian in history has one thing in common, they are all insecure.  They disguise themselves as strong leaders.  If they are men, they will actually be wimps, and winers, and thin skinned pedantic loud creatures who far from being a “man version” – are really very insecure children trapped in a larger often loud-mouthed body.  These are perfect vehicles for the puppet masters to enact their agenda.  Why?

Let’s use for example a grown man who is a victim of toxic masculinity.  Anyone who thinks that being the loudest and foul-mouthed person is a sign of masculinity already lacks awareness to function as a person who enacts critical thinking and intellectual honesty.  In other words, it is very easy to portrait themselves as an aggressive asshole, or a fantastical macho-version.  In reality, it actually takes self-control to be able to maintain temperance.  You can call that maturity.  But maturity its inconvenient to a puppet master.

Authoritarians tend to lack that level of maturity – even if they are very calculating, and they gravitate towards others who follow suit.  Which it is an oxymoron, because they think they are in charge, yet they are perfectly okay to even pay money for someday to insult them – making them think that it is what makes a tough person.  Trust me, if your life is indeed complex and challenging, you don’t need to pay somebody to artificially induce more drama in your life.  If you do, then your life is already too shallow and meaningless.

That’s what the Puppet Master seeks.

The puppet master needs people who are shallow enough to be pretentious, loud, aggressive, obedient, and likely violent – but too dumb to realize they are actually puppets for somebody else.  The funny thing is that their ego will make it impossible for them to realize they are being manipulated.  And that it is also by design.

Whenever you see any movement in history where men and some women who were convinced that they were in charge under the clout of a dear leader, they will also be prompted to obediently follow directives that are incredibly disgusting and often criminal in nature.  However, since it was enacted “against another” group, they felt vindicated to perpetrate these crimes without thinking much about it, or the victims.

The problem is that we are seeing a rise on these toxic personalities who are actually very vulnerable, but in their minds, they think they are the strongest and most alpha type of vindicators, following a quest that it is bigger than themselves.  They are right it is bigger than themselves, because they are being manipulated.  And guess what?  They are disposable when they become inconvenient.

It is easy to fall for this trap, because sometimes these victims will act as though they have it all figure it out – and even persuade others to follow the same “lessons.”  But once you dig a bit – and I mean it won’t take long because they tend to be very shallow – you’ll realize that all the spewed bravado it is more of a mechanism of defense, because no matter how “good they are” – they never like themselves, because they are not being themselves, they are just being the version they think was acceptable.  The result is that they are always chasing that higher high.

What does that mean?  It means that if a person is shallow, it does not matter what they achieve it will never be enough.  Because they have never actually become the person they are meant to be, the puppet master’s mission is to prevent them from figuring out WHO they were actually meant to be, and keep them obedient to an agenda that it is not even on their best interest.  But perpetually convince them it very much is.  HLC