Political Abuse

[David Morris]

http://www.nbcnews.com/health/mental-health/some-experts-say-trump-team-s-falsehoods-are-classic-gaslighting-n711021

MENTAL HEALTH
JAN 25 2017, 8:55 AM ET
Some Experts Say Trump Team’s Falsehoods Are Classic ‘Gaslighting’

The behavior has all the signs of "gaslighting", says clinical psychologist
Bryant Welch, who wrote a 2008 book
<https://books.google.com/books?id=BTAB6-SfpIoC&pg=PA1&lpg=PA1&dq=welch+gaslighting&source=bl&ots=3R2CtN78BE&sig=8BoX-Rqkybo6YswaU-PYyr8NHFs&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjBzKCc_tjRAhXKg1QKHflSBYUQ6AEIITAB#v=onepage&q=welch%20gaslighting&f=false>entitled
"State of Confusion: Political Manipulation and the Assault on the American
Mind".

Gaslighting refers to a 1944 film in which a murdering husband manipulates
and confuses his wife by dimming the gas lights in their home and then
denying it's happening.

"The very state of confusion they are creating is a political weapon in and
of itself," Welch told NBC News.

"If you make people confused, they are vulnerable. By definition they don't
know what to do," added Welch, who has not personally examined any of the
Trump team.


On Wed, Jan 25, 2017 at 6:22 AM, David Morris <fqmorris at gmail.com> wrote:

> Oh, but you do?  Again, that misses the point at the heart of
> 'gaslighting," AKA political abuse.  It is NOT the same as a con.
>
> David Morris
>
>
> On Wednesday, January 25, 2017, ish mailian <ishmailian at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> A lot of the discussion about how the people who voted for Trump see
>> themselves, how they view their position in the nation, in the nation's
>> history and so on and how capitalism has, saturated their views, their
>> hearts and minds, this is a kind of collective subjectivity sure. Trump
>> understands this and most of his critics don't understand that he
>> understands this and thus they don't understand him.
>>
>> On Tue, Jan 24, 2017 at 4:51 PM, Mike Weaver <mike.weaver at zen.co.uk>
>> wrote:
>>
>>> I'd have said this applies as much to ways of Western capitalism as it
>>> does to authoritarian regimes. The hoo ha about alt facts/false news seems
>>> to me to be a sign that the longstanding consensus (Gramsci's collective
>>> subjective) is breaking down, and the general populace is becoming open to
>>> different narratives as they look for fresh certainties to underpin their
>>> day to day lives. How much these narratives cleave to longer term realities
>>> are not as important as their appeal to shorter term emotional needs.
>>>
>>> On 24-Jan-17 4:10 PM, David Morris wrote:
>>>
>>> http://washingtonmonthly.com/2017/01/22/is-shawn-spicer-gasl
>>> ighting-the-press/
>>>
>>> The truly horrible thing about propaganda in authoritarian regimes is
>>> not that it convinces the true believers, but that it demoralizes opponents
>>> by saying in effect: “Yes, we know that you know we are lying, but we don’t
>>> care! We do it because we can and you can’t stop us!” As for the majority
>>> of apolitical citizens, it infects them with a corrosive cynicism and
>>> dissuades them from all forms of public engagement. Apathy may be a more
>>> powerful silencer of dissent than overt physical coercion.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
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