Holy shit. I just realized that Trump and Putin use the same domestic propaganda-technique.

[DetlefK]

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-russia-journalist-putin/putin-fires-police-generals-over-discredited-case-against-journalist-idUSKCN1TE1KT

Putin fired two high-ranking police-officers after it gets revealed that dirty cops planted drugs on a journalist to punish for his critical reporting.
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How russian propaganda works domestically:

1. There is a problem. Everybody knows there's a problem. Nobody in the russian government gives a shit about this problem because it only hurts people who don't count.

2. All of a sudden, the problem becomes SO BAD the russian government can no longer ignore it. No, I'm of course not talking about deaths or public health-risks. Those don't count. Those aren't bad. Things count as "bad" when the russian people start to criticize their rulers.

3. Putin swoops in and personally solves the problem! There is a media-spectacle! Putin holds a show-trial for those responsible and chastises their incompetence!

4. Putin passes a one-time measure that will solve this one problem this one time, with a minimum of effort and costs. The russian media dutifully reports that the problem has been solved forever.

5. The problem returns, but nobody cares, because Putin got his propaganda-victory.



- "Putin doesn't care about corruption!"
- "That's not true. He personally fired that one dirty cop. It was all over the news."

- "Putin doesn't care about public health!"
- "That's not true. He personally closed that one illegal garbage-dump. It was all over the news."

- "Putin doesn't care about rural areas!"
- "That's not true. He personally signed the order to raze decrepit old buildings in that one village. It was all over the news."



Those examples are real.

Putin actually closed an illegal garbage-dump. As soon as the media left, the trucks returned.

Putin actually passed government-subsidy for 10 selected villages. New factories were supposed to be built.
The old factories were razed for the cameras.
The media left.
New factories were never built.

And we all know that firing a few dirty cops means nothing when the whole system is designed to permit corruption and abuse of authority.

[Wounded Bear]

1. It's the authoritarian playbook...

assholes all over the world are playing by it.

[Skittles]

2. only works on fucking STUPID people

[mopinko]

6. and fear and want make you stupid.

[Skittles]

11. maybe back in the day?

but wake the fuck up people, there's an internet you can use to RESEARCH WHAT THEY ARE TELLING YOU.....I do it all the time.

[mopinko]

12. what i am saying is that it is instinctual. beyond reason.

evolutionarily very useful to mindlessly form a mob when the head man says jump. it is useful to not think when doom is impending, it is useful to just shut up and follow.

those instincts have been very aggravated at different times, and the mob has taken over.
these are times when a lot of fear has been drummed up to the point where a lot of people are reverting to threatened animal mode.

that some of us still think and read is proof that not all of us are ready to follow.
we all handle fear differently, we all fear different things, and some of us have very tightly wound springs, and hair triggers.

me, i refuse to fear shit.
i just cant live that way.

but many cant help it.

[Skittles]

13. oh I was not arguing with you

I am just fed up with how easily so many Americans can be manipulated

[mopinko]

15. i hear ya.

people who give in to fear make me nuts.
i have a lot of garter snakes on my farm. if you want to get on my bad side, make a deal out of garter snakes. you will have to slay a dragon w your bare hands to get my respect back.

but it sure seems to be a thing in murika these days.
all those years of "if it bleeds it leads" had a purpose, and money wasnt it.
helicopter parents who have been convinced that their precious ones are in danger of life and limb every time they were out of their sight have fueled the fire.

we are in such deep shit.

[Scarsdale]

3. There is one YUUGE difference

Putin may be lots of vile things, but he is NOT stupid. tRump is as dumb as a sack of hammers. Not to mention, Putin is too smart to have family members in his government circle. tRump's "kids" are not exactly helpful. At least not that we can see. Ivanka may have other "duties".

[mopinko]

7. and always have.

been meaning to write a post about the concept of "head man", and how such societies work. tl:dr, this is something that we evolved away from, but remains a baseline to organize humans.
the head man is a short evolutionary hop from a big silverback gorilla, baring his teeth, and thumping his chest. when life is shit, you just follow the big guy.
we still do that. some of us, anyway.

[Amerigael]

4. Holy shit, indeed...

...as the next thing you'll realize is that Putin has been implementing his "playbook" all over the world as he backs, then owns puppet "presidents" in Syria, Ukraine, Cuba, Venezuela, etc...and now the USA is also a vassal state of Russia, with a puppet "president" in the White House. BOOM! We are already "owned" by Russia. Let that settle in for a moment. The next thing you realize...American freedom is dead, & at some point, all dissent will be brutally & ruthlessly silenced.
I have already been silenced on Twitter for posting the same stuff Trump has said on national television, except I never threatened to shoot anyone. His supporters cheered him for saying he could shoot someone during a nationally televised campaign speech, and reported me on Twitter for saying I wouldn't care if someone shot him; now my Twitter account is locked. Not that I give a rat's ass about Twitter, but it illustrates the point that this country is so divided that it has already begun to fall. The irony is, the Democrats are, and will be blamed for taking away our rights in (literally) the most unbelievable propaganda campaign ever staged. If he is not removed from office very soon, Trump=Hitler.
Well, back to the battle as I continue to resist everywhere & anywhere I can. Good luck, my friend.

[Honeycombe8]

5. Yes, Trump follow the Putin Playbook. Starting with "deny deny deny."

Propaganda. Lying repeatedly about obvious things, which is just giving supporters the message they're supposed to repeat...in the belief that the lies become the reality. And they usually do.

This was Hitler's method, as well. With the added thing of using religion, which is what Trump does (Putin does not, as far as I know).

[Wounded Bear]

8. I think you may be wrong...

I believe the Eastern Orthodox church has made a resurgence in Russia these days.

[DetlefK]

9. That has more to do with nationalism than with religion.

Russia regards itself as a bastion of morals and peace, contrasted to western decadence, perversion and warmongering. The resurgence of the Russian-Orthodox Church is simply a holier-than-thou mindset.

It's all about nationalism. The ukrainian orthodox church has recently declared itself independent from the russian orthodox church, because they no longer want to take orders from russian clerics because due to their close relationship with the Kremlin. Russia was ROYALLY pissed.

Russia is for separatism in East-Ukraine, against separatism in the orthodox church, for separatism in Georgia, against separatism in Syria and for separatism in Spain.
What a totally coherent mindset!!!
It's almost as if Russia views everything in amoral geopolitical terms!!!

[Wounded Bear]

10. I think you made my point...

Since when has big religion ever been about spirituality?

The resurgence of the Orthodox church in Russia is basically a return to the Romanov dynasty with Holy Mother Russia and the state religion. The Ukrainian schism is much like the Catholic schism when the French tried to 'steal' the Papacy and opened a "New Rome" in Avignon. After the fall of Constantinople, the Orthodox Church moved to Kiev. Now Putin is trying to pull it to Moscow to solidify his "religious" chops.

As for your final paragraph, I have no counters. After all, paradox is a prime component of all large organized religions from what I can see. It's a reprise of the Middle Ages in Western Europe, when the Catholic Church was all up in the politics of the age, and was even a strong military power in Central Italy for a time. It's why our founders tried to drive a wedge between church and state.

[ecstatic]

14. What's to stop that from happening here? We see 45 testing

boundaries every day. His lies are getting bolder each day. Reporters listen, dutifully, eager to ask their own questions (knowing the response will be filled with lies). Nobody batted an eyelash or challenged his lie about Mueller's findings just the other day (regarding his campaign actively repelling russian assistance). And now, trump has mcconnell, barr, and the Supreme Court. He doesn't have Congress, yet, but it's fine because he knows democrats are too afraid to impeach him.