Zahir
Ebrahim
First
Published June 01, 2008
Case
Studies from 2008-2009 added Oct. 21, 2009
Case
Studies 2009-2010 and Postscript added Sept. 21, 2010
Final
Key Case Studies 2008-2012 added Nov 07, 2012
©
Project HumanbeingsfirstTM.
Permission granted to use freely as per copyright notice.
Manufacturing
Dissent: Weapons of Mass Deception – the
master social science, and the real power of Western Democracy
which famously permits dissent among its free peoples. Here is an
example: “Government Insider: Bush Authorized 911 Attacks”
– and the “Insider” surely “sleeps with the
fishes”, right? Wrong. He moves about quite freely! How comes?
Isn't he a great threat to those whom he rats on? The Dialectics of
Infamy (also known as Ezra Pound's “Technique of Infamy”)
has something for everyone in the dissent-space. It caters to the
needs and proclivities of every breed of emergent dissenting flock
and every possibility. Everything except that which might actually be
consequential in derailing “imperial mobilization” and
effectively preempting incremental faits accomplis of real agendas!
Those who do pose real threats to these real agendas are trivially
made to “sleep with the fishes” – from JFK to RFK
to MLK to X!
The
manipulation of the mainstream public to get them “United We
Stand” is a well understood and rather banal social science
today, often euphemistically labeled as “manufacturing
consent”. From Roman Emperors to Hitler to President George
W. Bush in the modernity du jour, all have expertly capitalized upon
it. Zbigniew Brzezinski even expertly documented it with great
finesse. “Prisoners of the Cave”
entirely unraveled it as “Deception Point 911 And Its
Greatest Democratic Enablers”.
The
manipulation of the dissentstream however –
the handful among any population who are the thinking peoples, as
Hitler had noted: “First, those who believe everything they
read; Second, those who no longer believe anything; Third, those who
critically examine what they read and form their judgments
accordingly” – is the least understood.
Indeed,
before we begin with the dissentstream, it is instructive to fully
quote from the master of sociology himself who had insightfully
identified the importance of the “First” type to
Machiavellian state-craft, and the main target for manufacturing
consent as “the crowd of simpletons and the credulous
... when the voting papers of the masses are the deciding factor”:
'In
journalistic circles it is a pleasing custom to speak of the Press as
a 'Great Power' within the State. As a matter of fact its importance
is immense. One cannot easily overestimate it, for the Press
continues the work of education even in adult life. Generally,
readers of the Press can be classified into three groups:
First,
those who believe everything they read;
Second,
those who no longer believe anything;
Third,
those who critically examine what they read and form their judgments
accordingly.
Numerically,
the first group is by far the strongest, being composed of the broad
masses of the people. Intellectually, it forms the simplest portion
of the nation. It cannot be classified according to occupation but
only into grades of intelligence. Under this category come all those
who have not been born to think for themselves or who have not
learnt to do so and who, partly through incompetence and partly
through ignorance, believe everything that is set before them in
print. To these we must add that type of lazy individual who,
although capable of thinking for himself out of sheer laziness
gratefully absorbs everything that others had thought over, modestly
believing this to have been thoroughly done. The influence which the
Press has on all these people is therefore enormous; for after all
they constitute the broad masses of a nation. But, somehow they are
not in a position or are not willing personally to sift what is being
served up to them; so that their whole attitude towards daily
problems is almost solely the result of extraneous influence. All
this can be advantageous where public enlightenment is of a serious
and truthful character, but great harm is done when scoundrels and
liars take a hand at this work.
The
second group is numerically smaller, being partly composed of those
who were formerly in the first group and after a series of bitter
disappointments are now prepared to believe nothing of what they see
in print. They hate all newspapers. Either they do not read them
at all or they become exceptionally annoyed at their contents, which
they hold to be nothing but a congeries of lies and misstatements.
These people are difficult to handle; for they will always be
sceptical of the truth. Consequently, they
are useless for any form of positive work.
The
third group is easily the smallest, being composed of real
intellectuals whom natural aptitude and education have taught to
think for themselves and who in all things try to form their own
judgments, while at the same time carefully sifting what they read.
They will not read any newspaper without using their own intelligence
to collaborate with that of the writer and naturally this does not
set writers an easy task. Journalists appreciate this type of reader
only with a certain amount of reservation.
Hence
the trash that newspapers are capable of serving up is of little
danger--much less of importance--to the members of the third group of
readers. In the majority of cases these readers have learnt to regard
every journalist as fundamentally a rogue who sometimes speaks the
truth. Most unfortunately, the value of these readers lies in
their intelligence and not in their numerical strength, an unhappy
state of affairs in a period where wisdom counts for nothing and
majorities for everything. Nowadays when the voting papers of the
masses are the deciding factor; the decision lies in the hands of the
numerically strongest group; that is to say the first group, the
crowd of simpletons and the credulous.
It
is an all-important interest of the State and a national duty to
prevent these people from falling into the hands of false, ignorant
or even evil-minded teachers. Therefore it is the duty of the State
to supervise their education and prevent every form of offence
in this respect. Particular attention should be paid to the Press;
for its influence on these people is by far the strongest and most
penetrating of all; since its effect is not transitory but continual.
Its immense significance lies in the uniform and persistent
repetition of its teaching. Here, if anywhere, the State should never
forget that all means should converge towards the same end. It must
not be led astray by the will-o'-the-wisp of so-called 'freedom of
the Press', or be talked into neglecting its duty, and withholding
from the nation that which is good and which does good. With ruthless
determination the State must keep control of this instrument of
popular education and place it at the service of the State and the
Nation.' [Mein Kampf, Adolph Hitler, Vol.
1, Chapter X, http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks02/0200601.txt]
Thus
it isn't accidental that Hitler remains the most studied
Machiavellian sociologist at the Rand
Corporation, and his Mein Kampf perhaps the favorite reading at the
Pentagon and among its policy planners who are spread out in a
hundred think-tanks along the Hudson and the Potomac.
The propaganda techniques Hitler mastered however, did not originate
with him, and he clearly attributed his profound wisdom
to his antagonists' great prowess:
'On
the other hand, British and American war propaganda was
psychologically efficient. By picturing the Germans to their own
people as Barbarians and Huns, they were preparing their soldiers for
the horrors of war and safeguarding them against illusions. ...
From
the enemy, however, a fund of valuable knowledge could be gained by
those who kept their eyes open, whose powers of perception had not
yet become sclerotic, and who during four-and-a-half years had to
experience the perpetual flood of enemy propaganda.
The
worst of all was that our people did not understand the very first
condition which has to be fulfilled in every kind of propaganda;
namely, a systematically one-sided attitude towards every problem
that has to be dealt with. ...
The
great majority of a nation is so feminine in its character and
outlook that its thought and conduct are ruled by sentiment rather
than by sober reasoning. This sentiment, however, is not complex, but
simple and consistent. It is not highly differentiated, but has only
the negative and positive notions of love and hatred, right and
wrong, truth and falsehood. Its notions are never partly this and
partly that. English propaganda especially understood this in a
marvellous way and put what they understood
into practice. They allowed no half-measures which might have given
rise to some doubt.
Proof
of how brilliantly they understood that the feeling of the masses is
something primitive was shown in their policy of publishing tales of
horror and outrages which fitted in with the real horrors of the
time, thereby cleverly and ruthlessly preparing the ground for moral
solidarity at the front, even in times of great defeats. Further, the
way in which they pilloried the German enemy as solely responsible
for the war--which was a brutal and absolute falsehood--and the way
in which they proclaimed his guilt was excellently calculated to
reach the masses, realizing that these are always extremist in their
feelings. And thus it was that this atrocious lie was positively
believed. ...
The
success of any advertisement, whether of a business or political
nature, depends on the consistency and perseverance with which it is
employed.
In
this respect also the propaganda organized by our enemies set us an
excellent example. It confined itself to a few themes, which were
meant exclusively for mass consumption, and it repeated these themes
with untiring perseverance. Once these fundamental themes and the
manner of placing them before the world were recognized as effective,
they adhered to them without the slightest alteration for the whole
duration of the War. At first all of it appeared to be idiotic in its
impudent assertiveness. Later on it was looked upon as disturbing,
but finally it was believed.
But
in England they came to understand something further: namely, that
the possibility of success in the use of this spiritual weapon
consists in the mass employment of it, and that when employed in this
way it brings full returns for the large expenses incurred.
In
England propaganda was regarded as a weapon of the first order,
whereas with us it represented the last hope of a livelihood for our
unemployed politicians and a snug job for shirkers of the modest hero
type. ...
I
learned something that was important at that time, namely, to snatch
from the hands of the enemy the weapons which he was using in his
reply. I soon noticed that our adversaries, especially in the persons
of those who led the discussion against us, were furnished with a
definite repertoire of arguments out of which they took points
against our claims which were being constantly repeated. The uniform
character of this mode of procedure pointed to a systematic and
unified training. And so we were able to recognize the incredible way
in which the enemy's propagandists had been disciplined, and I am
proud to-day that I discovered a means not only of making this
propaganda ineffective but of beating the artificers of it at their
own work. Two years later I was master of that art.' [Mein
Kampf, Adolph Hitler, Vol. 2, Chapter VI]
Perhaps
for Hitler, Edward Bernays' 1928 American
classic “Propaganda” might have been the favorite
bedtime reading, nightly perusing its opening pages which of course
begin with the fantastic observation:
'The
conscious and intelligent manipulation of the organized habits and
opinions of the masses is an important element in democratic society.
Those who manipulate this unseen mechanism of society constitute an
invisible government which is the true ruling power of our country.
We are governed, our minds are molded, our tastes formed, our
ideas suggested, largely by men we have never heard of.' ---
Edward Bernays, 1928, pg.1, Propaganda
All
and sundry among the scholars of empire have written books upon books
on the many techniques for “manufacturing consent”
– from Advertising and Marketing techniques to how it was done
in the Third Reich to construct “United We Stand” out of
the “crowd of simpletons and the credulous” –
while the state-craft in their own democracies quietly practice it
upon their own peoples laboring under the illusion of “freedom
of the press” with “All the news that's fit to print”
all the time! But it isn't particularly a secret, and is done quite
openly, albeit quietly.
The
manipulation of the intelligent conscionable ones however, the
“Manufacturing of Dissent”,
remains the most poorly analyzed master social science in the West,
even though it is also the most secretly practiced Black-art of
modern democratic state-craft to effectively deal with the “Second”
and “Third” groups of people.
Hitler
attempted to win the “Third” group over to his
side to be among the Third Reich's ruling elite (if they were of the
right racial makeup). Those whom he couldn't attract, he ignored
along with the “Second” group, on account of both
of them being so minuscule in number. The most dangerous among them
of course were simply made to “sleep with the fishes” by
the SS. Hitler had chosen to exclusively focus his propaganda
war-machine on “the crowd of simpletons and the credulous
... when the voting papers of the masses are the deciding factor”.
The Western system of democracy however does not, and cannot, ignore
any of the three groups. The “First” group is easy
– and remain the focus of the pretty well understood
“manufacturing consent”. The other two groups are of
course also encouraged or co-opted to join 'empire' – and the
majority among them willingly do so because of the immense riches
and/or benefits to ones' career and social standing that are to be
had in voluntarily remaining silent (in the best case of complicity),
and shilling for empire in sophisticated ways suited to their much
higher intelligence capabilities (in the worst case as hectoring
hegemons).
The
remaining gadflies, non-conformists, and rebel rousers become the
focus of “Manufactured Dissent”. They are cleverly
and continually put on the treadmill that deliberately goes nowhere.
Otherwise, left to their own free-thinking un co-opted devices, even
small numbers can end up making a significant difference in the long
run. Yes, even in the facade of Democracy, since it does constitute a
non-linear system of empowered human action. It is not their direct
action however that constitutes a significant threat, but the
potential of their mobilizing impact among the minority of ordinary
conscionable peoples in the larger society whom they might galvanize
into efficacious action, that is the real threat. Astutely
channeling dissenting energies towards inefficacy, and clever red
herrings, is the potent weapon system of choice for deployment among
this rebellious group and their potential flock.
This
is quite distinct from an open fascist oligarchy and open
dictatorships with regimented and coerced human-will which leave
little room for non-linearity of human action. In such blatantly
ruled autocratic systems, it is only the majority coming together
that can bring about any significant transformations – and that
too, only through revolutionary means. Which is why the loci of
direct manipulative control remains upon the majority peoples in such
systems. And the tiny thinking minority is trivially silenced through
the instilled fear crafted from disappearances, incarcerations,
forced exiles, and “sleeps with the fishes” – the
bread and butter of empirical state-craft in non democracies.
To
comprehend how the devilishly sophisticated manipulations employing
the Technique of Infamy and the Dialectics of Deception work in a
democracy to manufacture dissent which goes nowhere in a hurry, and
which also smoothly enables faits accomplis to be constructed that is
subsequently irreversible, click on the links below in sequence.
It
is Project
Humanbeingsfirst's
profound intent that these matters be immediately corrected –
for indeed, intellectual freedoms, voicing dissent, and mobilizing
for a conscionable cause are all precious, provided something
impactful can be done with
them. Otherwise, these pursuits on a treadmill are only as
pleasurably productive as you know what!
Thank
you for wanting to not run on the treadmill of dissent merely
to ease your conscience.
A
battle of absolute moral dimensions against the hectoring hegemons
and their many relativistic incantations of power which continually
wage war by way of deception
upon the public mind and spirit, can only be productively
engineered using both “Mens et Manus” –
Mind and Hand!
This
implies engineering to counter Machiavellian social engineering; not
randomly throwing moral words on paper and activist bodies in the
streets. We continually fail on that account, and primarily because
we fail to appreciate the vagaries of power and its immense ability
to deceive, to corrupt, and to co-opt.
Otherwise,
breaking the bonds of servitude would have been as simple as
following the 3000 years old Law of Moses, or, even Etienne de
La Boétie's sixteenth century prescription argued in his
famous “The Politics of Obedience: The Discourse of
Voluntary Servitude”!
Zahir
Ebrahim
Project
Humanbeingsfirst.org
Postscript-2
2012
The
FBI training graph of 2011 titled “Militancy Considerations”
is a living example of on-going total perception management today.
Click image to read its full deconstruction. The
graph illustrates how the manufacturers of both consent and dissent
together target us for total perception management. They control our
behavior of full servitude by piece-meal conditioning, eventually
leading to a Pavlovian compliance to their every stimulus. Their
dominant narrative is what informs us, cajoles us, frightens us, and
that's how we end up 'United We Stand' with the Massa. When we
disagree with the dominant narrative, the dissent-chiefs enter the
picture to ensure that the underlying core-axioms remain untouchable.
If
they say there is “Islamic terrorism”, we say there is
“Islamic terrorism”. If they say 9/11 was the work of
“jihadi Muslims”, if they say there is “global
warming”, “peak oil”, “swine flu”, this
and that global disaster, this and that galactic catastrophe, we not
only echo the same, but naturally find ourselves inclined to act in
accordance with that implanted fear. If such mantras come anointed
with imposing IVY stamp of approval, the Nobel stamp of approval,
lofty academic endorsement, so much more we believe in them, to the
point that we even permit the state to molest us to keep us safe! The
theories of psychological persuasion techniques in text-books and
those employed in the Third Reich exactly match the ground realities
today in the Fourth Reich. Sounds rather prosaic – but
empirically true nevertheless. This ought not to be surprising ---
here is Aldous Huxley prognosticating it in 1962 at University of
California-Berkeley:
‘You
can do everything with bayonets except sit on them! If you are going
to control any population for any length of time you must have some
measure of consent. It’s exceedingly difficult to see how pure
terrorism can function indefinitely. It can function for a fairly
long time, but I think sooner or later you have to bring in an
element of persuasion. An element of getting people to consent to
what is happening to them. Well, it seems to me that the nature of
the Ultimate Revolution with which we are now faced is precisely
this: that we are in process of developing a whole series of
techniques which will enable the controlling oligarchy who have
always existed and presumably always will exist, to get people
actually to love their servitude! This is the, it seems to me the
ultimate in malevolent revolution shall we say.’ — Aldous
Huxley, The Ultimate Revolution, 1962 speech at UC Berkeley,
minute 04:06
The
effects of total perception management can be seen across the world.
Most glaringly however, in America's own most grotesque Obedience
Training at the American Airports for continued United We Stand with
more absurdities! This time, for their own enslavement... getting
Americans to love their own servitude in the name of keeping them
safe from terrorists. Someday, it will all be taught at Harvard to
undergraduates in government studies and to MBAs in marketing as the
case study of most successful perception management of all time. What
more needs to be said? It would only be a rehash. Therefore, this is
the last word on Manufacturing Dissent by Project
Humanbeingsfirst.org. Click on the images below to understand your
own voluntary servitude.
The
ultimate absurdity of one's servility is of course witnessed among
the Veterans of America's lifetime of wars upon the 'untermenschen'.
They continue to be misled by vacuously
manufactured dissent into inefficacy, the entire purpose behind
manufacturing dissent. Now let's understand the theory behind all
these effects. Click on links below in sequence.
>>
A great example of disingenuous dissent – after eating 900
mice, the cat performs the hajj and becomes the representative
of the mice before other cats to the incredulous cheering of the
mice! This unraveling earned Zahir Ebrahim, the honorific of “you
are a completely stupid fool, a disgrace to humanity”
from Paul Craig Roberts, United States Former Assistant Secretary of
the Treasury. This example poignantly illustrates how the
manufacturers of both consent and dissent retain all core-axioms of
'empire' intact! The difference is that for consent, the empire is
projected as good. For dissent, the empire is projected as bad. But
the same external enemy is retained, and only re-incarnated either as
“jihadis” and “Militant Islam” (consent), or
“revolutionaries” and “blowback” (dissent).
Neither manufacturers will ever extend their discourse to covert-ops,
to forensic analysis of overarching agendas, and to “inside
job”!
You
may stop here if you wish... by now you must surely understand enough
to analyze modernity on your own! The point of it all being aptly
captured in the cliché: catch a man a fish and feed him for
a day, teach him how to fish and feed him for life!
You
may like to keep as handy reference Zahir Ebrahim's 2013 book: The
Poor-Man's Guide to Modernity, 6th Edition, 2013. Click
on image below for PDF
Footnote
Embedded
videos do not appear in the PDF of the previous WMD 2010 Omnibus
Collection. The empty spaces in that PDF is the place-holder for
these videos. Many of these videos unfortunately also no longer
exist, or their links may have changed. There is no 2012 Omnibus
collection. Just click on each article link above and download its
PDF by finding its PDF link which is normally towards the end or
beginning of the document.
-
### -
The
author, an ordinary researcher and writer on contemporary
geopolitics, a minor justice activist, grew up in Pakistan, studied
EECS at MIT, engineered for a while in high-tech Silicon Valley
(patents here),
and retired early to pursue other responsible interests. His maiden
2003 book was rejected by six publishers and can be read on the web
at http://PrisonersoftheCave.org.
He may be reached at http://Humanbeingsfirst.org.
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