Manchurian Voters, or, The brainwashing of a nation

[GliderGuider]

12. Bob Altemeyer estimates up to 25% of Americans are RW authoritarians

Last edited Fri Feb 17, 2017, 07:55 PM - Edit history (1)

Probably about 20 to 25 percent of the adult American population is so right-wing authoritarian, so scared, so self-righteous, so ill-informed and so dogmatic that nothing you can say or do will change their minds. They would march America into a dictatorship and probably feel that things had improved as a result.... And they are so submissive to their leaders that they will believe and do virtually anything they are told. They are not going to let up and they are not going away.

These people form the core of the Trumpist Movement, and need the least brainwashing. The less authoritarian you are the more brainwashing is needed to make you join the Movement. The messages used in the driving originate exclusively from the core group. The purpose of the brainwashing is to expand the Movement beyond its core, and make it a political force. The Movement also seems to have a lot in common with cults like Scientology in terms of the degree and kind of social control that is exercised over the members.

The other thing that is required for the whole mechanism to work is a general perception that one's community is being left behind by society. If that perception is real to some extent, it can be amplified to become a rallying cry. Trumpism could not have succeeded without a Rust Belt, offshoring and an overall stagnant or declining economy.

It requires a mix of factors to cause a Movement to coalesce - in this case psychological predisposition, the economic environment, legislative changes, and the communications technology that allows messages to be targeted down to the individual level.

I should also mention that any acculturation is a form of brainwashing. The difference is that in "normal" acculturation people are exposed to quite a broad mix of thoughts and beliefs, resulting in a more diffuse norming effect. In the case of Trumpism, the exposure is restricted as much as possible to a single set of ideas and beliefs, which are repeated so often that they bring the person's thinking into alignment with the core message. So while this effect has been around in some form for as long as there have been cultures, these particular circumstances and available technology have allowed culture itself to be weaponized.