"Cognitive dissonance" is not the solution to the problem of believing one idea and its opposite at the same time. It's the psychological DISCOMFORT you feel when you try to hold these contradictory ideas together in your head. Since the Democrat ideology is based on contradictions, lies and doublespeak reinforced by the media, the ideology would fall apart with a little reality-testing. So you have to do a lot of repressing to avoid confronting the truth, and engage in a lot of avoidant behavior, like staying away from alternative sources of information, i.e., doing independent research.
This is the psychology of the cult. Thinking independently might alienate you from your peers and lead to ostracism. You might wake up and realize that you've been living out a kind of Stockholm Syndrome, identifying with people who are insulting your intelligence and abusing you with their policies.
For example, unlimited immigration depriving you of the high-paying job you went to college to train yourself for, saddling you with crippling debt you can't repay without that job--in a vicious circle. Or: Teaching a grade-school white kid that he's racist because he's white, and, on top of THAT, toxically masculine if he's a white male. This is child abuse plain and simple. And the abuse will continue through college and beyond via the MSM and mainstream culture; if you happen to land a well-paying office job, "Diversity Counselors" who force you to attend "struggle sessions." The assault on your self-esteem as a white person can only be deflected by the quasi-forced-confession of "white privilege" and by scapegoating other white people who happen to be Conservative, or merely not racist as opposed to "anti-racist." To make a non-racist claim such as "all lives matter" is to be branded as a racist. Such is the logic of doublethink, typical of a cult. It could also be called the logic of the "double-bind," a situation so absurdly self-contradictory that it paralyzes you mentally and emotionally, as if to mock your helplessness. Female high school athletes feel powerless to complain that transgender males are allowed to steal their victories and deprive them of the confidence-boosting pride that goes with them; if they do complain, they are stigmatized as transphobes. A cult is rarely without such a sadistic component. (It's important to note that these examples of abusive ideology disproportionately affect young people. Why? The young are especially impressionable, and more likely than other age groups to be recruited by cults. Cf. the Revolutionary Guard and Pol Pot's 10-year-old murders.)
Today's mainstream culture is not a culture at all but a mass cult. And it is fundamentally malignant; its purpose is to enslave those at the bottom to those at the top. The members of the current "meanstream" cult (the Community of the Saints, aka the PC) are both the victims and perpetrators of its core abusiveness. Repression of this truth doesn't make it go away, it only shoves it down into the unconscious: but the truth will still nag at you with inklings of self-doubt. Unconsciously you can't help but perceive what's being done to you and resent being abused by the very people who claim to be your benefactors and demand your loyalty. But since you can't admit this to yourself, you end up living a lie and BECOMING a lie.
That's why scapegoats are so important in cults. They allow you to discharge the discomfort of clashing "cognitions" by projecting it onto Conservatives, even if this traps you in the insider/outsider, friends/enemies dichotomy that blunts your intellect and stunts you emotionally, encouraging simplistic thinking and irrational hatred. At this point the cult has thoroughly weaponized you. You are ready to pass on your own abuse, inflicting in the outsiders. The redirected aggression of AntiFa's physical clashes with Trump-supporters acts out these psychological clashes by turning them into armed assaults against a convenient scapegoat. "Going on the offensive" is a kind of defense-mechanism. Spewing hatred and engaging in violence are twisted forms of therapy.
This is really helpful. I'm having leftist family coming for Christmas and it's helping me boost some compassion for them. They're living in mental slavery that ironically has full consent of their will. I hope and pray they abandon they come to our side.
I'm glad it's helpful, Pede. I'm not a psychologist, but I've read a lot of the literature. The psychology of the Left reminds me of The Wizard of Oz and the Wicked Witches' soldiers: Once Dorothy literally throws cold water on the witch and she melts away, they're stunned at first, but then overjoyed at being liberated. ("Hail Dorothy! Ding dong the wicked witch is dead!") It's as if the people at the top of the Left-Wing hierarchy have cast an evil spell on the rank-and-file. It's not easy to break.
To me the irony is partly that the reason the Left is so enslaved is precisely because they do NOT entirely consent of their own free will. It's a paradox, but there it is. Part of you can't help but notice when you're being lied to and exploited. Some people cope by repressing this perception and doubling down on their loyalty: this is a defense against the cognitive dissonance I mentioned. It really is a kind of Stockholm Syndrome.
But this also means that, like the Wicked Witches' soldiers, they DO on some level want to be liberated from what amounts to psychological captivity. Administer the right red pill at the right time in the right way, and the light may dawn on them. The red pill, after all, is what frees you from the prison of the Matrix.
I wish I could be more specific than that. In a crisis like this Election, people tend to either double down on their political positions or begin to doubt them. Polls say even 15-20% of Democrats believe it was rigged (and an even larger percentage of Independents). Maybe you could point that out; make sure they understand that these are not "Conservative" polls (Rasmussen is one of them) so they can be trusted.
Tl;dr - the junior kook creates a hypocritical facade (occult term for this is "avatar") to do their ideological work, but since their actual self is empty the avatar eventually takes over, whereupon they graduate to full-time fanatic.
I've cleaned this up a little more to my liking (generic if you will), since as soon as I saw immigration mentioned in the post I was sure the left would immediately freak out and say that invalidates the whole argument. Here is is.
"Cognitive dissonance" is not the solution to the problem of believing one idea and its opposite at the same time. It's the psychological DISCOMFORT you feel when you try to hold these contradictory ideas together in your head. Since the current government establishments' identitarian ideology is based on contradictions, lies and doublespeak reinforced by the media, the ideology would fall apart with a little reality-testing. So you have to do a lot of repressing to avoid confronting the truth, and engage in a lot of avoidant behavior, like staying away from alternative sources of information, i.e., doing independent research.
This is the psychology of the cult. Thinking independently might alienate you from your peers and lead to ostracism (like the current fear of ostracism those not masked now experience daily). You might wake up and realize that you've been living out a kind of Stockholm Syndrome, identifying with people who are insulting your intelligence and abusing you with their policies. For example, shuttering small business and churches to 'prevent the spread', while simultaneously allowing 350+ people to sit shoulder to shoulder for hours on end on an aircraft or flood big box stores with patrons in hours long lineups.
Repression of the truth doesn't make it go away, it only shoves it down into the unconscious: but the truth will still nag at you with inklings of self-doubt. Unconsciously you can't help but perceive what's being done to you and resent being abused by the very people who claim to be your benefactors and demand your loyalty. But since you can't admit this to yourself, you end up living a lie and BECOMING a lie.
You can discharge the discomfort of clashing "cognitions" by projecting it onto any who disagree with you, labeling them as anti-this or anti-that, racist, phobic etc., even if this traps you in the insider/outsider, friends/enemies dichotomy that blunts your intellect and stunts you emotionally, encouraging simplistic thinking and irrational hatred. At this point the cult has thoroughly weaponized you. For example the redirected aggression of AntiFa's and BLM physical clashes with Trump-supporters acts out these psychological clashes by turning them into armed assaults. "Going on the offensive" is a kind of defense-mechanism. Spewing hatred and engaging in violence are twisted forms of therapy.
Unity with our fellows from all walks of life and tolerance for their intellectual diversity is the only remedy, not allowing ourselves to be divided by a disingenuous media and bad actors on any side of the aisle.
"Cognitive dissonance" is not the solution to the problem of believing one idea and its opposite at the same time. It's the psychological DISCOMFORT you feel when you try to hold these contradictory ideas together in your head. Since the Democrat ideology is based on contradictions, lies and doublespeak reinforced by the media, the ideology would fall apart with a little reality-testing. So you have to do a lot of repressing to avoid confronting the truth, and engage in a lot of avoidant behavior, like staying away from alternative sources of information, i.e., doing independent research.
This is the psychology of the cult. Thinking independently might alienate you from your peers and lead to ostracism. You might wake up and realize that you've been living out a kind of Stockholm Syndrome, identifying with people who are insulting your intelligence and abusing you with their policies.
For example, unlimited immigration depriving you of the high-paying job you went to college to train yourself for, saddling you with crippling debt you can't repay without that job--in a vicious circle. Or: Teaching a grade-school white kid that he's racist because he's white, and, on top of THAT, toxically masculine if he's a white male. This is child abuse plain and simple. And the abuse will continue through college and beyond via the MSM and mainstream culture; if you happen to land a well-paying office job, "Diversity Counselors" who force you to attend "struggle sessions." The assault on your self-esteem as a white person can only be deflected by the quasi-forced-confession of "white privilege" and by scapegoating other white people who happen to be Conservative, or merely not racist as opposed to "anti-racist." To make a non-racist claim such as "all lives matter" is to be branded as a racist. Such is the logic of doublethink, typical of a cult. It could also be called the logic of the "double-bind," a situation so absurdly self-contradictory that it paralyzes you mentally and emotionally, as if to mock your helplessness. Female high school athletes feel powerless to complain that transgender males are allowed to steal their victories and deprive them of the confidence-boosting pride that goes with them; if they do complain, they are stigmatized as transphobes. A cult is rarely without such a sadistic component. (It's important to note that these examples of abusive ideology disproportionately affect young people. Why? The young are especially impressionable, and more likely than other age groups to be recruited by cults. Cf. the Revolutionary Guard and Pol Pot's 10-year-old murders.)
Today's mainstream culture is not a culture at all but a mass cult. And it is fundamentally malignant; its purpose is to enslave those at the bottom to those at the top. The members of the current "meanstream" cult (the Community of the Saints, aka the PC) are both the victims and perpetrators of its core abusiveness. Repression of this truth doesn't make it go away, it only shoves it down into the unconscious: but the truth will still nag at you with inklings of self-doubt. Unconsciously you can't help but perceive what's being done to you and resent being abused by the very people who claim to be your benefactors and demand your loyalty. But since you can't admit this to yourself, you end up living a lie and BECOMING a lie.
That's why scapegoats are so important in cults. They allow you to discharge the discomfort of clashing "cognitions" by projecting it onto Conservatives, even if this traps you in the insider/outsider, friends/enemies dichotomy that blunts your intellect and stunts you emotionally, encouraging simplistic thinking and irrational hatred. At this point the cult has thoroughly weaponized you. You are ready to pass on your own abuse, inflicting in the outsiders. The redirected aggression of AntiFa's physical clashes with Trump-supporters acts out these psychological clashes by turning them into armed assaults against a convenient scapegoat. "Going on the offensive" is a kind of defense-mechanism. Spewing hatred and engaging in violence are twisted forms of therapy.
This is really helpful. I'm having leftist family coming for Christmas and it's helping me boost some compassion for them. They're living in mental slavery that ironically has full consent of their will. I hope and pray they abandon they come to our side.
I'm glad it's helpful, Pede. I'm not a psychologist, but I've read a lot of the literature. The psychology of the Left reminds me of The Wizard of Oz and the Wicked Witches' soldiers: Once Dorothy literally throws cold water on the witch and she melts away, they're stunned at first, but then overjoyed at being liberated. ("Hail Dorothy! Ding dong the wicked witch is dead!") It's as if the people at the top of the Left-Wing hierarchy have cast an evil spell on the rank-and-file. It's not easy to break.
To me the irony is partly that the reason the Left is so enslaved is precisely because they do NOT entirely consent of their own free will. It's a paradox, but there it is. Part of you can't help but notice when you're being lied to and exploited. Some people cope by repressing this perception and doubling down on their loyalty: this is a defense against the cognitive dissonance I mentioned. It really is a kind of Stockholm Syndrome.
But this also means that, like the Wicked Witches' soldiers, they DO on some level want to be liberated from what amounts to psychological captivity. Administer the right red pill at the right time in the right way, and the light may dawn on them. The red pill, after all, is what frees you from the prison of the Matrix.
I wish I could be more specific than that. In a crisis like this Election, people tend to either double down on their political positions or begin to doubt them. Polls say even 15-20% of Democrats believe it was rigged (and an even larger percentage of Independents). Maybe you could point that out; make sure they understand that these are not "Conservative" polls (Rasmussen is one of them) so they can be trusted.
Praying for them is also a good idea.
Prayer works, but only helps the one who is praying.
Not really
This might be a nice little red pill stocking stuffer for your family
https://thedonald.win/p/11R4q3jEHR/cnn-flip-flopping/c/
So how do we help these people? Genuinely asking.
I can only direct you to my reply to chelthing here in the comments. Otherwise I'll just be repeating myself.
Small doses of red pill like this may help. Have to titrate up from there.
https://thedonald.win/p/11R4q3jEHR/cnn-flip-flopping/c/
This guy uses occult concepts to explain politics:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=fxwhwRUv0WI
Content starts at 1:52.
Tl;dr - the junior kook creates a hypocritical facade (occult term for this is "avatar") to do their ideological work, but since their actual self is empty the avatar eventually takes over, whereupon they graduate to full-time fanatic.
Sounds like demonic possession - which would actually make sense with some of these people!
He wouldn't disagree. Ideological possession by a self-created demon.
Not demonic possession but rather animus possession, Jordan Peterson speaks of it in depth in completely psychologically valid terms.
I've cleaned this up a little more to my liking (generic if you will), since as soon as I saw immigration mentioned in the post I was sure the left would immediately freak out and say that invalidates the whole argument. Here is is.
"Cognitive dissonance" is not the solution to the problem of believing one idea and its opposite at the same time. It's the psychological DISCOMFORT you feel when you try to hold these contradictory ideas together in your head. Since the current government establishments' identitarian ideology is based on contradictions, lies and doublespeak reinforced by the media, the ideology would fall apart with a little reality-testing. So you have to do a lot of repressing to avoid confronting the truth, and engage in a lot of avoidant behavior, like staying away from alternative sources of information, i.e., doing independent research.
This is the psychology of the cult. Thinking independently might alienate you from your peers and lead to ostracism (like the current fear of ostracism those not masked now experience daily). You might wake up and realize that you've been living out a kind of Stockholm Syndrome, identifying with people who are insulting your intelligence and abusing you with their policies. For example, shuttering small business and churches to 'prevent the spread', while simultaneously allowing 350+ people to sit shoulder to shoulder for hours on end on an aircraft or flood big box stores with patrons in hours long lineups.
Repression of the truth doesn't make it go away, it only shoves it down into the unconscious: but the truth will still nag at you with inklings of self-doubt. Unconsciously you can't help but perceive what's being done to you and resent being abused by the very people who claim to be your benefactors and demand your loyalty. But since you can't admit this to yourself, you end up living a lie and BECOMING a lie.
You can discharge the discomfort of clashing "cognitions" by projecting it onto any who disagree with you, labeling them as anti-this or anti-that, racist, phobic etc., even if this traps you in the insider/outsider, friends/enemies dichotomy that blunts your intellect and stunts you emotionally, encouraging simplistic thinking and irrational hatred. At this point the cult has thoroughly weaponized you. For example the redirected aggression of AntiFa's and BLM physical clashes with Trump-supporters acts out these psychological clashes by turning them into armed assaults. "Going on the offensive" is a kind of defense-mechanism. Spewing hatred and engaging in violence are twisted forms of therapy.
Unity with our fellows from all walks of life and tolerance for their intellectual diversity is the only remedy, not allowing ourselves to be divided by a disingenuous media and bad actors on any side of the aisle.