Dear Leader Letter # 24 Gaslit – Lit Up
Poly Tics . Social Studies
Response To Reply.
To All,
A main component of ‘Mass Formation Psychosis’ (*) which is responsible for much of the malfeasance and harm that has been done to Canadians by both government and non-government agencies over the last three years consists of a form of manipulation called ‘Gaslighting’. Gaslighting seems to be an inherent skill within most humans who are naturally predisposed to self interest and self preservation. It is a form of power play where one human attempts to control or shape the behaviour of another human. Gaslighting is related to ‘Stockholm Syndrome’ and ‘Battered Wife Syndrome’ or a newer form called ‘Battered Albertan Syndrome’. These various syndromes are all known to create doubt and fear which makes people think and act in ways they normally wouldn’t. Even if governments and their agents are themselves victims of any of the syndromes, they are still guilty of malfeasance. They are in a position of authority given them by the people that elected them into office. Public servants are to possess a certain level of intelligence and discernment. Even in the proven absence of both of these qualities, the next level motivation for malfeasance must be reward or compensation. This has been proven throughout history when totalitarian zealots murdered millions to achieve their desired ends. The various syndromes were scientifically applied with great effect. They turned ordinary people against one another, losing their humanity.
So here we are. The narratives supported and promoted by the application of these deadly syndromes are collapsing even as their arbeiters double down on their agenda. Governments and agencies are starting to be held to account. There is a growing number of AWAKE people that will demand accountability. They continue to refuse to be ‘gaslit’ as they research the false narratives and act against their oppressors. Inviting citizens to appear before council and then cancelling their appearance, whether to avoid the subject matter or answer difficult questions, is gaslighting. There is a large ‘silent’ majority in Airdrie and Alberta that refuse to be gaslit. You will be hearing from them by and by.
Sincerely,
Al Neitsch
403 400 4477
( * )
https://larryturner.substack.com/p/mass-formation-and-consequent-totalitarian
How ‘Political Gaslighting’ Undermines the Truth
By Rohitha Naraharisetty
Jul 21, 2021
- To “gaslight” someone is to manipulate them into questioning their perception of reality. If this sounds vaguely familiar, it’s because it is — political gaslighting is fast becoming the defining feature of our times.
The process of political gaslighting makes use of certain techniques. “[It] utilizes deceptive and manipulative use of information with the motivation to destabilize and disorient public opinion on political issues,” Farah Latif, a communications expert from George Washington University in the U.S., noted in a paper.
In reality, this translates as creating false, alternate narratives not based in reality; calling them irrational or undermining their sanity for questioning the gaslighter’s narrative; covering up lies to make them sound convincing, and so on. Gaslighting makes use of words and power — two things that feed off inequality. Latif adds that political gaslighting becomes a strategy to “garner support for or against an ideology, viewpoint, or policy.”
The result of this manipulation is pointed. Being gaslit on a mass level undermines the public’s capacity to think about policy in the long and short-term (and their ability to have a say in it), distorts truth and reality, and creates a sense of distrust among the public. The idea of gaslighting is mostly discussed with respect to intimate partner relationships or family dynamics; but in a political sphere, experts note its impact on mass paranoia, confusion, pain, and uncertainty.
Political gaslighting may not always be called by this name. The downplaying the administration’s wrongs, discrediting political opponents, encouraging deliberate misinformation, and diverting attention from relevant news are all markers. Notably, when the government says no one died in the last months due to an oxygen shortage, despite multiple first-hand accounts, the line between fact and fiction becomes too thin.
Typically, gaslighting is a tactic used by powerful individuals with narcissistic tendencies who seek to manipulate another person into their control. What happens when individuals do this to more than one person? What if the grand vision of control is directed towards a whole nation?
According to Latif, there are two distinct victims of political gaslighting: the gaslit (those who are successfully manipulated), and those who hold opposing views (journalists and researchers). Political gaslighters may try to silence the latter.
Related on The Swaddle:
The Govt Celebrating “Power of Positivity” Is An Example of What Toxic Positivity Looks Like
The first, controlled, and carefully planned instances of political gaslighting were seen in Nazi Germany, in which dissidents were toyed with in many ways — including the sending and receiving of fake letters attributed to them. A very similar technique — with a slight modification of letters on laptops — is believed to have implicated Indian activists.
The technique is also used to stoke communal fires and overwrite history; leading to alternative narratives about ourselves as a people.
Further, the pandemic saw an alarming rise in political gaslighting — with leaders worldwide calling Covid19 a “conspiracy,” saying there is no vaccine shortage when there is, among other manipulations downplaying the severity of the situation. These abstract statements naturally have devastating consequences for people who have suffered during a crisis. In India, the government’s claims about the pandemic — pointing at communal bogey to divert attention from the real causes, claiming premature victory over the crisis — have translated into Covid-norm defying behavior. If the pandemic has shown us anything about politics, it is that political gaslighting is not just rhetoric — it can be deadly.
Researchers have also distinguished between overt and covert political gaslighting. The former happens when a speaker explicitly peddles demonstrably false information while presumably being aware of the falsity. Think leaders countering public memory about an event witnessed in real-time (“no one demolished the Babri Masjid”) or misrepresenting reality through denying public experience (“India’s vaccination drive is a success”).
The latter happens when the speaker makes ambiguous statements that cannot be conclusively refuted. Examples of covert political gaslighting include shedding crocodile tears (about purported violence during protests), misrepresenting one’s own beliefs (politicizing the pandemic through the distribution of supplies yet denouncing the same), emotional manipulation, or any instance where the audience cannot access the truth.
A litmus test for identifying political gaslighting, therefore, is that at all times, the audience always has a reasonable basis to doubt the claims made by the gaslighter.
The impact of each such instance is chilling as a whole. If we consider a nation’s electorate as a single unit, the distortion of reality leads to a public cognitive breakdown in terms of what the truth means, what facts are real, which ones are “propaganda,” and who is victimizing whom. The book “Gaslighting America” notes how former U.S. President Donald Trump manipulated American voters into questioning their own histories, doubting established scientific facts, undermining devastating crises, and drawing on sexist, racist stereotypes, among many other classic gaslighting tactics.
Researcher Alex G. Sinha, in an article published in the Buffalo Law Review, identifies political gaslighting not by the gaslighter’s intentions — but by the effect their manipulations have on the public; the effects include triggering doubts about public recollections of “settled matters of historical fact.” These effects are magnified by the power asymmetry that exists between the speaker and the audience — the greater the asymmetry, the more destabilizing the effects.
“When confusion, diversion, distraction, and disinformation are ramped up so they become an omnipresent pollutant of public debate, we may end up losing faith in the very possibility of truthful discussion – or in our own views,” wrote Stephan Lewandowsky, a professor of Cognitive Psychology at the University of Bristol, U.K.
The subversion of reality and twisting of facts on a mass scale make it difficult for citizens to agree on what the truth is. If denying the reality of the scale of death, what caused it, misleading the public about management, and emphasizing a “positive” outlook on an unfathomable tragedy seems like a familiar form of political gaslighting — it’s because it is.
From: Peter Brown
Sent: July 11, 2022 10:09 AM
To: Al Neitsch; Mayor; Airdrie-Cochrane; Airdrie-East; Councillors
Subject: RE: [EXTERNAL] Mean What You Say, Serve All People, Earn What You’re Paid
Hi Al,
Just to clarify absolutely u have the ability to ask questions of council, public question period normally starts after 6;00 pm on our agendas and everyone is welcome.
Regards,
Peter
From: Al Neitsch <awneitsch@hotmail.com>
Sent: Monday, July 11, 2022 9:43 AM
To: Mayor <mayor@airdrie.ca>; Al Neitsch <awneitsch@hotmail.com>; Peter Brown <Peter.Brown@airdrie.ca>; Airdrie-Cochrane <Airdrie.Cochrane@assembly.ab.ca>; Airdrie-East <airdrie.east@assembly.ab.ca>; Councillors <Councillors@airdrie.ca>
Subject: [EXTERNAL] Mean What You Say, Serve All People, Earn What You’re Paid
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This is the City of Airdrie’s Corporate Mission Statement as it appears on the first page of it’s website.
‘The City of Airdrie is a vibrant, caring community rich in big city amenities and small town atmosphere, with opportunities for everyone. We value a healthy, sustainable environment connecting people and places.
Community and opportunity. Get involved. Find out more.’
To All,
I have several reasons for being ten days late in paying my ever increasing property taxes and I pay them this year under duress and protest that arises from the hypocrisy that is apparent in the various mission statements that turn up on C.O.A. websites. I’m sure some penalty may apply. I tried getting more information from various bureaucrats on several matters, including C.O.A.’s incorporation and it’s association with non-government agencies that may be influencing C.O.A.’s purview and agenda. Getting information to file a complaint is painful and time consuming. I am also a pensioner whose income has been devalued by government mismanagement and policy so I am having to find increasing value for my money. While I have been totally blocked from presenting to or asking questions of city council ( at least as the non- response or acknowledgements would imply ), the backing agencies and departments seem to begrudgingly respond, and then, with rather officious results and even having it suggested that any information I may need requires a F.O.I.P. request. Remember when I challenged the C.O.A. to make a joint request with me to demand evidence from the Ministry of Health to justify mask mandates. Recent involvement with C.O.A. agencies and council seem to be out of alignment with the aforementioned mission statements, the most serious being a human rights violation made against me, and others no doubt, at the last municipal election. This matter will be before the C.H.R.C. shortly. Most appalling is that I voted for all but one of those currently employed on city council but have no way of knowing if my vote counted. Either way, the lack of transparency and lack of respect for the virtues you all claim make me think that my ballots wouldn’t have made a difference anyway. So much for the political process.
City Council does what city council does, to seemingly serve various agendas, protocols, and purviews without consideration for the caring claims they jointly make. This applies to the city managers and bureaucrats that have remained employed during the ‘difficult times’ of the last three years as well.
When you all jointly claim to offer a caring community and small town atmosphere, does this come from a place of wanting to understand all perspectives of all citizens on a personal level? Being restricted from or not willing to communicate with citizens on matters we wish to bring forward for your consideration seems to rather counter your stated ideals.
When you claim to offer opportunities for everyone, and to value a healthy, sustainable environment connecting people and places, why would you align yourselves with a provincial or federal government that mandated proven harmful restrictions and unproven medical interventions during an unproven crisis, when other, entirely valid and credible counter narratives by medical and science experts were suppressed or ignored? This is hypocrisy. This is why government at all levels cannot be fully trusted.
The City of Airdrie Corporation is in place to manage and provide infrastructure to facilitate a thriving and prosperous community for the health and well-being of all citizens. If you participate in any activities, whether under duress or otherwise, that harms or discriminates, you are not doing your job. You are in fact in dereliction. If you participate for any reason in any form of social engineering or cultural modification, so too, you are not doing the job our tax dollars pay you for.
I’d like to see a published breakdown of what the salaries and pay scales are for each one of you and the city ‘managers’. I am still very interested in the statistics of the vaccine status of all city employees, councillors, and managers included. It would be very telling to hear of how many public servants refused vaccines and lost their jobs or accepted them under duress and without informed consent, and how many adverse events are being reported within the ranks. If medical transparency is being demanded of everyone, there should be no exceptions. Transparency is the foundation of trust.
I am getting involved. I want to find out more. Will you help?
Most Sincerely,
Al Neitsch