The War of the Words

What does it take to control a population? Do you have to beat them into submission; use chains to prevent escape? Can you intimidate them with threats of violence into following your commands? Unfortunately the answer is far worse: you just have to use the right words.

The war for your mind is fought with words. Words that evoke strong emotional responses meant to overcome logic and reason; to prevent us from questioning or fighting back. Our rulers understand human psychology and exploit it mercilessly to control us.

Our rulers use words like 'terrorism' to make you stop thinking. 'Terrorists' don't have motives or reasons. They aren't defending themselves or their loved ones. They are imaginary evil doers who "hate us for our freedom". We must fear them and fight to eradicate them no matter how many hundreds of thousands of innocent civilians we slay in the processes. If we begin to question the legitimacy of this war on terror, they say we must "support the troops". Don't question policy or leadership, just support the troops or you're un-American. Support the troops or you will lose your friends, your ingroup, and your social identity. Support them blindly while they kill the undesirables.

“If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it. The lie can be maintained only for such time as the State can shield the people from the political, economic and/or military consequences of the lie. It thus becomes vitally important for the State to use all of its powers to repress dissent, for the truth is the mortal enemy of the lie, and thus by extension, the truth is the greatest enemy of the State.” - Joseph Goebbels, Nazi propaganda chief

The truth is, there are no terrorists. There are only people. People with hopes, dreams, concerns and fears, just like you. If they react with violence, it is not because they hate your freedom. It is because they are scared. They're scared because a foreign military power has invaded and occupied their territory and has little concern for their well-being. Our government demands absolute submission, and unlike Americans, some people aren't going to give up their freedom without a fight.

"... the Mujahideen saw the black gang of thugs in the White House hiding the Truth, and their stupid and foolish leader, who is elected and supported by his people, denying reality and proclaiming that we (the Mujahideen) were striking them because we were jealous of them (the Americans), whereas the reality is that we are striking them because of their evil and injustice in the whole of the Islamic World, especially in Iraq and Palestine and their occupation of [Saudi Arabia]." -Osama Bin Laden , February 14 , 2003

But don't worry, hope! Change! Yes we can! Don't worry about specifics, just let the government spoon-feed you words with positive connotations. Then you can repeat them and feel good about yourself while you wave the flag and support the troops, knowing that you're part of the group. All while the government uses the "Patriot" Act to spy on you, read your emails and photograph you naked at airports.

Of course, they'll pay for all this through "taxes" and debt (future taxes on our children). Funny, when the mafia receives money in exchange for not acting out threats of violence, it's called extortion. When you pay the government to avoid being kidnapped and locked in cell, they get to use a nicer word for it.

If we want to fight back, we must first fight with words. Call things what they are, not what our rulers want us to call them. The war is in the words, so choose yours wisely.