Never believe that anti-Semites [read: fascists] are completely unaware of the absurdity of their replies. They know that their remarks are frivolous, open to challenge. But they are amusing themselves, for it is their adversary who is obliged to use words responsibly, since he believes in words. The anti-Semites have the right to play. They even like to play with discourse for, by giving ridiculous reasons, they discredit the seriousness of their interlocutors. They delight in acting in bad faith, since they seek not to persuade by sound argument but to intimidate and disconcert. If you press them too closely, they will abruptly fall silent, loftily indicating by some phrase that the time for argument is past.
Comment on Trump, 79, Rants Incoherently About Robots and AI
WhatAmLemmy@lemmy.world 5 hours agoThis is not “pettiness”. This is all part of a multi-generational psychological warfare operation to brainwash the working class and implement totalitarian dictatorship — started by the Koch Bros, Roger Ailes, and Rupert Murdoch several decades ago — and the fascists are winning; facilitated by “liberals” who are mostly a manufactured opposition, financed by the exact same corporations/oligarchs.
dukemirage@lemmy.world 4 hours ago
NoForwadSlashS@piefed.social 2 hours ago
- Charlie Kirk RIP
WhatAmLemmy@lemmy.world 1 hour ago
Rest in piss indeed
Mihies@programming.dev 4 hours ago
I’d say educational system, or better, it’s downfall through decades, plays a significant role in making population dumb enough to not see through these constant lies.
WhatAmLemmy@lemmy.world 54 minutes ago
The multigenerational operation directly involves the defunding of, and attacks on, education. This isn’t a this or that situation. ALL conservative and neoliberal policy since the 1970’s is about destroying the socialist/liberal/democratic advances made pre-1970’s, and returning the working class to ignorance destitution; much easier to control mentally-ill morons (see MAGA).
edwardbear@lemmy.world 3 hours ago
It’s easy to control sheep. Machiaveli wrote a literal guidebook in the 1500s. If you dumb them down and destroy free thought, you can rule as you see fit.
Kyrgizion@lemmy.world 5 hours ago
The rhetoric that politicians are idiots and they don’t know what they’re doing is also damaging, because it makes people assume stupidity rather than malice.
But it is malice. The incompetence is real, make no mistake, but malice is in fact the end goal.
WhatAmLemmy@lemmy.world 1 hour ago
When profits are involved, always assume malice.
The only time you should assume stupidity is when dealing with family, friends, colleagues, frontline workers, etc; basically anyone you interact with who wouldn’t profit off the malice (eg the sales person will lie to make a sale).