"Neither a man nor a crowd nor a nation can be trusted to act humanely or to think sanely under the influence of a great fear." ~Bertrand Russell
We are a nation divided. One side recognizes the individual's rights and wants to be left alone adopting a live and let live attitude, the other side recognizes only the group and demands you become part of the "collective". They'll jump up and down, shout and scream, behaving like spoilt infants. They'll make attempts to publicly humiliate you, cancel you, shame you into complying with the collective will, they'll dox your address putting you and your family at risk. How are otherwise normal people coerced into joining the "commune" and behaving this way?
Marketing and advertising are both exercises in coercion, so are political campaigns. How many times have you been coerced into voting for a candidate based on the false promises of a carefully crafted campaign speech on which the orator delivered nothing? Too many! Hitler was a master of coercion utilizing a specific structure for all of his speeches. He would open by providing the group stood before him with a sense of unity, of commonality. He would manipulate them emotionally, appealing to their sense of fear and anger by identifying a common threat to that group unity. He would conclude by invoking a higher power and appoint himself as the agent of that power.
Hitler was a student of social psychologist Gustav Le Bon (as was Mussolini). Le Bon theorized that a crowd becomes a unit in its composition and every individuals' behavior becomes governed by the group mind. He detailed three processes that create the "psychological crowd": anonymity (the loss of personal responsibility); contagion (the spread of particular behaviors and the subsequent subscription to the collective interest); and suggestibility (the mechanism through which the contagion is achieved – suggestions made by strong voices in the crowd which guide the collectives' behavior).
Hitler's formula for group coercion was detailed in his book Mein Kampf and was simple:
- Keep it simple, Make 1 or 2 points.
- Speak only in the telling or ordering mode.
- Reduce concepts down into black and white stereotypes.
- Speak to people's emotions and stir them constantly.
- Use repetition, repeat your points over and over again.
- Forget literary beauty, scientific reasoning, balance or novelty.
- Focus solely on convincing people and creating zealots.
- Find slogans which can be used to drive the movement forward.
If you listen to the speeches of current American political leaders, they seek support by appealing to the desires and prejudices of the people rather than using rational arguments. The emotion most appealed to is fear because they know it circumvents our logic. Author and journalist Neil Strauss summed up why when he said "We're wired to respond to fear above everything else. If we miss an opportunity for abundance, life goes on; if we miss an important fear cue, it doesn't."
Fear-based manipulation is not exclusive to those particular groups; take the ATF for example, as they often use the same tactic. Person A just bought a new gun, an AR pistol with a brace. Two weeks after it was purchased, the ATF writes a cease-and-desist letter to the manufacturer of the firearm to prevent further sales. This ruling effectively left a number of options open to the owner:
- Permanently remove the stabilizing brace so it cannot be reattached, and convert the firearm back to a pistol;
- Change the barrel to be 16-inches or longer;
- Destroy the firearm;
- Turn the firearm in to the ATF; or
- Apply for a tax stamp on the SBR.
The initial reaction will likely be a number of emotional responses including fear. Am I a felon now, will I be arrested by the ATF, what should I do? Person A, now in a panic-stricken state, unnecessarily complies with one of the above "solutions". Game over, you lose.
How do we avoid succumbing to fear based coercion? It doesn't matter whether the topic is tax increases, abortion, immigration, education, economic collapse or socialism. The most important thing is to identify and acknowledge its existence. This helps dealing with it both in the moment and in the future. Slow down, don't panic, step back and regain mental and emotional clarity. Research and educate yourself on the topic thus allowing you to make better informed decisions. Do not blindly conform; act mindfully and take responsibility for your own actions. Use what you learn to educate family, friends and the surrounding community so that we can fight together.
In the pistol brace example, a deep breath and a small amount of research would show that none of that was necessary. After the initial ruling by the ATF in 2020, the manufacturer, over 60,000 members of the public, via public comments on the Federal Register, and Congress successfully pushed back against the ruling. A 2A win. Victory!
In 2021, under the Biden administration, the ATF proposed a new regulation accompanied by a complicated and subjective points system. While receiving fewer comments on the Federal Registry from the public, ninety members of the House wrote to the ATF rejecting the proposal asking them to withdraw it. Comments are now closed and the ATF have a limited period of time in which to finalize the regulation. We will have to wait and see what they come up with. Such cases could be extremely important as it goes to the heart of out of control bureaucracies legislating through regulations. The Supreme Court has made noises about reining in the so-called Chevron defense. Perhaps this will be the vehicle that allows them to do so. Perhaps a much bigger victory.
"Knowledge dispels fear." ― David Gandy