Political mind games provided at considerable cost by tiny ruling cabals are not enjoyable forms of rest and relaxation designed to help people escape from the stresses and strains of daily living. Rather, they are dirty destructive devices deliberately developed to deceive and defraud people.
The purpose of mind games is to manipulate people into doing things that are not in their own best interests or the interests of millions of others like them. These mind games serve to increase the wealth and power of the one percenters at the top of the control tower tottering over our fragile globe and its endangered inhabitants.
Roy Eidelson has revealed the mind game strategies targeting common human concerns and inflaming powerful—and manipulable—emotions in ways that get people to engage in a wide range of immoral behaviors, including voting for legislation that:
robs the poor to pay the rich,
destroys public lands to enrich the fossil fuel billionaires,
steals from social programs to benefit the arms industry, and
undermines peace efforts to shore up the military industrial complex.
The common human concerns and their associated emotions are:
a sense of vulnerability (fear);
perceived unfairness/injustice to self (anger and resentment);
distrust (suspicion);
need/desire to feel superior (pride); and
sense of helplessness (despair).
These mind games work, in part, by manipulating fear, anger, suspiciousness, pride, and despair in ways that get people to abandon or reject universal moral principles (e.g., the Golden Rule) in favor of what feels like the only way to survive and prosper in a dangerous world. That is, mind games work by sabotaging moral engagement in principles and behaviors that are supportive of human kindness, justice, and peace. Bottom line: mind games capitaliza on and promote moral disengagement. More on that coming up in future posts.
Pegean says, “While your eyes are open and you’re paying attention, don’t let the one percenters and their followers use the 9/11 anniversary to manipulate your fears and hatred. Rise above it.
From its inception in 2010, a major goal of Engaging Peace has been to encourage peace-minded, justice-oriented folks to proceed from study to action. By that, we mean using understandings from research evidence and scientifically-based theories to engage in activism on behalf of peace and social justice.
As part of this
endeavor, we have focused on two major sets of psychological understanding:
Dr. Roy Eidelson’s exposé of mind games—that is, the psychological manipulations used by the one percenters who try with some success to rule the world (see, for example, here and here and here .
My own work on the moral disengagement processes promoted by the power mongers who seek only to enrich their pockets and their influence (see, for example, here and here and here .
If you are a peace and social justice advocate, or a person who would like to see life survive for another hundred years on this planet, you are probably aware that the earth and the life it sustains are in great peril. These dangers are turbocharged by the movement towards fascism and authoritarian control, and supported by propaganda and disinformation.
The mind games, lies, and distortions will only multiply during this 2019-2020 pre-election period.
To support you in facing this scourge, Engaging Peace will build on the recommendations of Dr. Eidelson for innoculating yourself against the destructive mind games of the one percenters. We–all of us–must be prepared to stop them in their efforts to terrorize and deceive ordinary people into being their compliant puppets.
In addition, we will focus more on the forms of moral engagement that help people resist power monger efforts to disengage them from universal moral principles such as the Golden Rule (see here and here ).
Grounded in the theory and research of Peace Psychology, our blog posts and newsletter will help you navigate the treacherous language, propaganda, and fear tactics so prevalent in American politics and society today. And we will do this using multimedia—essays, poems, short films, and cartoons!
We are
gearing up now to help you make sense of political language during the upcoming
electoral circus of 2020—and prepare you to take appropriate action.
We will not endorse political parties or candidates—there’s plenty of blame on both sides for the mess the country is in today. Instead, we will offer messages including three major tools to serve you in the struggle:
Information to help you recognize the distortions, manipulations, and downright lies that are inherent in mind games and moral disengagement
Guidelines for protecting your emotional and physical health in the midst of increasing stress (hint: hope helps!)
Actions you can take to promote nonviolence and justice in our nation despite all efforts to keep the public afraid, beaten down, and ready to blame anyone except the people in power for their miseries.
So stay tuned, join the effort, and help build a better world.
Pegean says, Your bonus for visiting Engaging Peace today and joining us in our campaign to unbamboozle recipients of manipulative mind games is this link to a free pdf copy of Dr. Eidelson’s bookPolitical MInd Games!
When it comes to preserving their extraordinary wealth and power, the 1% count on manipulating the public’s understanding of what’s happening, what’s right, and what’s possible. My research shows that their favorite “mind games” often target our doubts and concerns in five domains: vulnerability (Are we safe?), injustice (Are we being treated fairly?), distrust (Who can we trust?), superiority (Are we good enough?), and helplessness (Can we control what happens to us?).
One-percenters are most accustomed to using deceitful yet psychologically persuasive appeals to control the narrative about big-picture issues ranging from domestic policy to national security. But in recent days, we’ve seen them turn to the same playbook in an effort to quell the controversy generated by Dr. Christine Blasey Ford’s credible allegations of sexual assault against Supreme Court nominee h Let’s consider several examples.
Source: U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee (public domain)
Vulnerability. The 1%’s “It’s a False Alarm” mind game is typically used to downplay the societal harms caused by their self-serving priorities. Regardless of the evidence, they insist that adverse events—such as the ravages of climate change—are greatly exaggerated. So too in the Kavanaugh context. For instance, GOP operative Gina Sosa dismissively argued, “Tell me, what boy hasn’t done this in high school?” Similarly, conservative evangelist Franklin Graham claimed, even if the allegations are true, “There wasn’t a crime that was committed.”
Injustice. With the “We’re the Victims” mind game, one-percenters assert that they’re targets of mistreatment rather than perpetrators of wrongdoing. This artful role-reversal is witnessed whenever economic inequality takes center stage. That’s when they complain about receiving unfair criticism for billionaire tax cuts and no appreciation for the hard work that supposedly made them so wealthy. GOP Senators have employed this turnabout tactic in their defense of Kavanaugh. Lindsey Graham referred to the allegations as “a drive-by shooting” and Bob Corker lamented, “I can’t imagine the horror of being accused of something like this.”
Distrust. Another recurring mind game of the 1% is “They’re Devious and Dishonest.” Here, they assert that those who oppose their agenda—low-wage workers, prison reformers, anti-war activists—are deceitful and unworthy of the public’s trust. Their efforts to discredit Kavanaugh’s accuser are no different. Senator Orrin Hatch claimed that Dr. Ford’s allegation “reeks of opportunism”and President Trump tweeted: “If the attack on Dr. Ford was as bad as she says, charges would have been immediately filed with local Law Enforcement Authorities by either her or her loving parents.”
Superiority. In this domain, a favorite mind game of one-percenters is “Pursuing a Higher Purpose.” They insist that tainted actions—such as the torture of war-on-terror prisoners—must be evaluated within the context of the greater good and America’s enduring exceptionalism. In similar fashion, Kavanaugh’s defenders insist that his behavior from decades ago should be taken in stride. Conservative columnist Dennis Prager contended that the charges should be ignored because he’s “led a life of decency, integrity, commitment to family, and commitment to community that few Americans can match.” And Senator Hatch argued, “I think it would be hard for senators to not consider who the judge is today… Is this judge a really good man? …By any measure he is.”
Helplessness. Finally, with the “Resistance Is Futile” mind game, the 1% send a clear message to friend and foe alike: We’re in charge and that’s never going to change. Sometimes they drive this point home with threats; at other times, they turn to naked assertions of authority. Powerful defenders of the status quo regularly rely on this appeal when their policies—or their preferred candidates—are challenged. So it’s no surprise that Senate Majority leader Mitch McConnell offered this reassurance to a Values Voters Summit audience: “In the very near future Judge Kavanaugh will be on the United States Supreme Court…Don’t get rattled by all of this. We’re going to plow right through it.”
Other manipulative mind games also tap into issues of vulnerability, injustice, distrust, superiority, and helplessness. But these five examples should be sufficient to demonstrate a key point. There are striking and disturbing parallels between the 1%’s broad, ongoing assault on our democracy and their targeted maneuvers aimed at overcoming serious, legitimate questions about Brett Kavanaugh’s suitability for the Supreme Court. In both the war and the battle, they know that psychologically compelling appeals to our core concerns can carry the day—even when they’re as flimsy as a conman’s promises. That is, unless we’re ready for them.
Roy Eidelson, P.h.D., has been a practicing clinical, research, and political psychologist for over thirty years. His new book is titled Political Mind Games: How the 1% Manipulate Our Understanding of What’s Happening, What’s Right, and What’s Possible. Roy’s work focuses on “psychology for progressive purposes”—applying psychological knowledge to issues of social justice and social change. He is the former executive director of the Solomon Asch Center for Study of Ethnopolitical Conflict at the University of Pennsylvania and a past president of Psychologists for Social Responsibility, an organization that works to address a range of pressing issues including poverty, racism, militarism, and climate change. He is also a member of the Coalition for an Ethical Psychology, where along with colleagues he has been an outspoken advocate in opposing torture and restoring psychology’s commitment to do-no-harm ethics.
Note from Kathie MM: Regarding the image for Dr. Eidelson’s post, I think it is all too sadly relevant that the person contemplating justice is a woman. What connections do you make in this regard? (I think of Ruth Bader Ginsburg.)
Note from KMM: Are you satisfied with the way things are going in this country today? or wondering what the heck went wrong and why we seem to be in such a mess? if you want some answers and want to know what to do about everything that has gone awry, read D. Roy Eidelson’s new book: POLITICAL MIND GAMES: How the 1% manipulate our understanding of what’s happening, what’s right, and what’s possible.
Post by Roy Eidelson
Giant corporations are raking in record profits, while millions of Americans remain scarred by the Great Recession and a recovery that has left them behind. Mammoth defense contractors push for more of everything military, while programs for the poor are on life support. Global polluters are blocking effective responses to climate change, while the disenfranchised suffer disproportionately from environmental disasters and devastation. Influential voices ridicule those who are disadvantaged by prejudice, by discrimination, and by dwindling resources. All the while, our middle class is shrinking, imperiled, and insecure. This is not the America most of us want.
It’s really no secret that certain individuals and groups — the Koch brothers, Walmart heirs, some Wall Street CEOs, prominent politicians (many Republicans, and some Democrats too), big-business lobbyists, right-wing think tanks, Fox News — use their wealth and influence to pursue a self-serving agenda that betrays the common good. Indeed, they’ve been doing it since long before Donald J. Trump moved into the White House. But what often flies under the radar is the extent to which they rely on psychologically manipulative appeals to advance their narrow interests at the expense of the rest of us. Examples include “The dangers of global warming are overblown,” “Voter fraud is a rampant injustice,” “Workers protesting low wages are devious and dishonest,” “We’ve earned every dollar and deserve your praise, not criticism,” and “Everyone will be helpless if gun reformers have their way.”
In my new book, POLITICAL MIND GAMES: How the 1% Manipulate Our Understanding of What’s Happening, What’s Right, and What’s Possible, I explain the psychology behind the success of today’s plutocrats in marketing their false claims — and what we can do to counter them. Offering a research-based framework, I show how the 1% exploit five fundamental concerns that govern our daily lives: issues of vulnerability, injustice, distrust, superiority, and helplessness. These concerns are soft targets for manipulation because each is linked to a basic question we ask ourselves as we try to make sense of the world around us. Consider:
Are we safe? Whether as passing thoughts or haunting worries, we wonder if we’re safe, if the people we care about are in harm’s way, and if danger lurks on the horizon. Our judgments on these matters go a long way in determining the choices we make and the actions we take. But we’re not particularly good at assessing our vulnerability. Among the ways that the 1% use this shortcoming to their advantage is by promoting alarmist accounts of the perils associated with change.
Are we being treated fairly? Cases of mistreatment frequently stir our anger and our desire to bring accountability to those we hold responsible. But our perceptions of what’s just and what’s not are far from perfect. This makes us ripe for exploitation by those eager to shape our views of right and wrong. That’s a key tactic for today’s plutocrats, and portraying their own selfish actions as efforts to address injustice—on our behalf—is just one of their ploys.
Who should we trust? We tend to divide the world into people and groups we deem trustworthy and others we don’t. When we get it right, we can avoid harm from those who have hostile intentions, while building valuable relationships with those who enhance our lives. But here too our judgments are sometimes unreliable. Among the ways the 1% exploit our doubts is by intentionally fostering distrust in order to divide the ranks of their adversaries.
Are we good enough? We’re quick to compare ourselves to others, often with the hope of demonstrating that we’re worthy of respect or admiration. But the impressions we have about our own worth—and the positive or negative qualities we see in other people—are intrinsically subjective. As a result, they’re susceptible to manipulation. One way plutocrats capitalize on this is by insisting that those who are struggling to get by are simply inferior to the rest of us.
Can we control what happens to us? Feelings of helplessness can pose a substantial obstacle in both personal and collective initiatives. When we lack confidence in our capabilities, we’re more inclined to give up and abandon our goals, and less likely to show resilience in the face of setbacks. The 1% take advantage of this inclination in several ways, including by telling us that stark inequalities are the result of powerful forces beyond everyone’s control.
In responding to these questions, today’s plutocrats are masters at using duplicitous mind games—like “It’s a Dangerous World,” “No Injustice Here,” “They’re Different from Us,” “Pursuing a Higher Purpose,” and “Don’t Blame Us”—to lead us away from a more equal and more decent society. Their answers are designed to manipulate our perceptions and emotions while distracting us from careful evaluation of arguments and evidence. Rather than viewing concerns about vulnerability, injustice, distrust, superiority, and helplessness as guideposts for improving the general welfare, the 1% exploit them to advance their interests and derail effective opposition to their rule.
Political Mind Games was written with a clear purpose: to help inoculate the public against the 1%’s self-serving appeals. When we expose and debunk their mind games, the plutocrats’ empty rhetoric loses its allure, their selfish motives are laid bare, and everyone can see clearly how a privileged few have fleeced and forsaken the country—and the people—that made their enormous wealth and power possible. In turn, this recognition lays the groundwork for the coalition-building and collective action that can restore and reinvigorate our democratic principles and commitments.
Dr. Roy Eidelson has been a practicing clinical, research, and political psychologist for over thirty years. His work focuses on applying psychological knowledge to issues of social justice and social change. He is the former executive director of the Solomon Asch Center for Study of Ethnopolitical Conflict at the University of Pennsylvania, and a past president of Psychologists for Social Responsibility. He is also a member of the Coalition for an Ethical Psychology, which advocates against complicity in torture and in favor of restoring psychology’s commitment to do-no-harm ethics