Gaslighting: The Genocide of Freedom
The clinically recognized condition is called "perspecticide" or coercive control.
In my book The Illusion of Knowledge published in 2020, I explored a sociological trend that is infecting the minds of massive numbers of people, who for all intensive purposes, are serious, thoughtful and patriotic citizens. I came across this systemic condition when I was investigating why some women can't seem to escape an abusive relationship. You know the type, women who have been given a black eye but blame it on walking into a door in the dark. We all have known women who despite her apparent deep affection for her husband, and the obvious abuse that he heaps upon her, continues to live in the same house, to sleep with him, and also continues to exhibit bruises to her face. She has become withdrawn and intimidated, avoiding friends, relatives and even stopped going to church. And even when you personally witness abuse, she dismisses it as atypical and "unfortunate".
The clinically recognized condition is called "perspecticide" or coercive control. The term means "the murder of perspective" because it is the result of a conscious effort to reorder a person's values and perspective.
It is a multifaceted technique used to manipulate and dominate people.
It is most commonly seen in sexual relationships where the male is in complete control, but it can be used by anyone. Some women inflict it on their children or their partners and it can also be used in group situations, under certain controlled situations. It is a management system, so you will see it used in a family, or in a small business, or it can be used by affinity groups such as drug rehabilitation, or to manage a football team. The military uses a form of it to break down and rebuild new recruits so they can be desensitized to war.
The point is, when someone wants to impose their decisions, their values or their limitations on another person or group, there are a series of elements they will inject into their relationship that will create an atmosphere where their dominance can flourish.
The generic term most often used to describe this condition is "gaslighting". That term is derived from a 1938 British play and later a George Cukor directed movie made in 1944 called Gaslight, which starred Ingrid Bergman and Joseph Cotten. It dramatizes a husband who purposely presents altered realities to his wife and then convinces her to doubt her own judgements, memories and perceptions. He slowly dims the gas lights in their home, talks to himself and gives her conflicting and false information. Then, when she questions her perceptions, he tells her she must be mistaken, and suggests she may be going insane. All with the intent of committing her to a mental institution so he can gain power of attorney over her.
In modern culture, psychologists use the term ‘Gaslighting’ to describe relationships where one partner exercises inordinate control over the other.
But I have applied the concept to a much larger and more sinister environment: The relationship between our schools and their students, which over time has also infected many industries as the students matriculate into business. Especially important is when the students, as is typical of victims of perspecticide, eventually project similar control patterns over their partners, or in business, over their employees. One such massive effect is when long term victims become media operatives. They tend to use many of the same techniques they have learned when projecting their values on their customers, the public.
In order to understand how this can happen, first we must recognize the tools used to exert control over their "victims". Here are the most obvious telltale signs of someone or some force trying to "control you":
They lie to your face then deny it, even when confronted with the truth.
They accuse everyone else of lying.
They align others against you, and keep you isolated.
They play with your emotions by toying with what you value the most.
Then alternately give massive amounts of adulation and confirmation expressed as love.
They 'project', accusing you of doing what they are doing wrong.
They send mixed signals and misinformation, keeping you confused.
Ironically, they also use fear and intimidation and ultimately violence to keep you in line. Gaslighters are bullies and manipulators who are typically narcissists. And what makes them so dangerous is that it is a learned behavior. Most bullies come from broken families led by bullies. Unfortunately, many schools, businesses and media outlets are now led by gaslighters who enjoy the power they hold and wield it with enthusiasm because, as narcissists, they believe they are the smartest people in the room and the rest of us will benefit from their "wisdom".
What for a few decades was a relatively small portion of the populace suffering from the coercive control of their dad, mother, or boss, is now nearly ubiquitous in our western culture, because the traits have been handed down through several generations via our school system, our mass media influences and the ubiquity of electronic tools that reach into the minds of people almost as soon as they can speak.
When I express my concern that our society is devolving, I am characterized as crazy. I know this because millions of people that support our President are also dismissed as nazis, white supremacists, homophobes, misogynists, rightwing religious nuts and haters. We are all rolled up into that "crazy" category together.
But the evidence is growing that for decades children as young as first grade are being groomed to embrace Progressive "values" about critical race theory, early American genocide, and gender fluidity.
That Christianity and the nuclear family are antithetical to social justice and that the overriding threat to humanity is the use of fossil fuels which is undermining their future and the future of mankind.
My theory is that after years of submersion in this kind of constant brainwashing, anyone would become scared to death. And what have we wrought? A death averse culture of frightened victims that turn to a Nanny State for protection from the crazies that refuse to accept the change required to stop the New Cultural Revolution. From those maniacs wearing Make America Great Again caps!
From my point of view, the only reason I didn't subscribe to the Progressive Manifesto is that I recognized the veil that was being put over my eyes. I noticed how things weren't adding up. I refused to be lied to, to allow bullies to threaten me. I argued with my instructors over dogma like the Theory of Evolution. Or why any form of a family can be just as effective as a nuclear family. To me, much of the accepted curriculum was based on outcome, not evidence. I resented being taught what to think, not how to think. I had to figure that part out on my own.