Brainwashed: Part 10
Part 10 – Direct Mind Control / Brainwashing
And then, my dear friends (I humbly bestow that honorable title if you will accept, solely because you have come this far in reading, unless of course you also already are a dear friend and are still sticking with me)… and then there is actual intentional brainwashing.
The experts do not call it “brainwashing,” they refer to it in other ways depending upon its usage.
We spoke earlier a bit about addiction, where we mentioned light attachments to NECCO wafers and the Jeopardy! tv program, and that folks may become addicted to their social media as well, and other forms of online engagement. Of course, there now are major outlets purporting to deliver “news” such as Fox News and Rachel Maddow and Last Week with John Oliver, available on standard cable television, which really seem to be in business to present slanted opinions of news items. Are we becoming addicted to hearing certain perspectives rather than real news?
However, I really would like to take this farther at this time, into real mind control that seems to manifest as an addiction, though maybe it touches in different ways our minds and brains.
Let’s say that your buddy Maggie has been subsumed into a cult. They have been exerting mind control upon her; she may even say that she submitted to it willingly. If you and your family can get Maggie to the experts, they may be able to use various forms of deprogramming to help her escape from the clutches of the cult.
A cult may be considered another, more drastic form of addiction, as we mentioned. (Again, I am not a psychiatrist nor a psychologist.) We also, of course, have spoken about religion being a form of mind control. You may extract your own conclusions here as well.
The deprogrammers who receive Maggie fresh from the cult will isolate her for a week or two, or for however long it takes, to work their professional magic.
They tell me that the only reason to isolate a person completely for such a period of time is to employ mind control. Deprogramming uses mind control just as does the original indoctrination.
Thus we have both the example of the brainwashing ability of a cult and the deprogramming ability of the professionals, which are not dissimilar in methods and in effects.
Whether the treatment is “good” for the subject is often quite subjective. The subject and the friends and family of the subject may have differing opinions.
We have certainly heard of brainwashing used in international subterfuge, not to mention the use of truth serums and hypnosis both to have spies forget what they were set to do, and to have them reveal the secrets they know. Yet you see that we may use these techniques in everyday polite society as well.
I recently read an article on the US National Institutes of Health site regarding the use of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) in older adults. The author puts forth that although not enough studying has yet occurred, there are instances in which this sort of psychotherapy may be appropriate to adjust the individual to the situation at hand. ACT assumes inflexibility in the adult, and follows a theoretical prescription to have the individual follow in a dozen or so sessions to alter the way the person thinks and feels. The goal apparently is acceptance of life’s situations.
There is no way for me to know whether ACT constitutes brainwashing, nor whether any form of therapy – including hypnosis – produces a similar effect. I only know what I witness, and leave it to you to find understanding, and maybe impart it to me.
Let us take the instance of Barney. For the past couple years Barney has begun to head down the awful path into dementia. As he said, he was watching his brain fall apart piece by piece. Barney was independent, belonged to groups and organizations, and had a scheduled and organized life. Dementia was starting to creep into interfering with his organization and contentment, but these episodes would go in cycles. His life was still livable, but the layers of cushions he needed placed figuratively under him were increasing.
Barney maintained systems of financial and practical management with aides.
Barney was also several years into a romantic relationship with Judy. He spent much time in person with her, and when not together they continued remotely communicating by text or phone call. Besides sharing laughter, conversation, poetry, concerts, theatre, movies, and whatnot, Judy helped with the organization of Barney’s broader life, including scheduling, and doing much of the driving to whatever was scheduled, since he had to give up his car recently. The lady friend, however, had a day job, which was one reason Barney had an aide for the personal tasks and taking him to doctor visits. Also, he felt he should not burden his sweetie with mundane tasks when there were concerts to attend and classes to appreciate together. She also saw him through a couple bouts with skin cancer and a good portion of the COVID pandemic, much as he also saw her through rough times. They were very close. Judy’s adult children adored Barney. Barney’s children did not like Judy.
Years ago, after his wife’s passing, Barney had given his adult children a strong power of attorney. Barney found himself regretting what was about to befall him.
This was going on at the same time as what reportedly happened more publicly and similarly to actress Nichelle Nichols (of Star Trek fame): Barney’s children had a plan. They drove into town a few separate times and began taking some of his clothing away with them. Probably they figured everyone would blame Barney’s dementia for his not being able to find the clothing.
Then suddenly they more or less abducted him to their home city. None of Barney’s friends or colleagues knew where he was, including his sweetheart Judy. Even before they took him away, the family had placed parental controls on his phone and tablet and computer, so that when he would text or send an email, or be sent a text or email, it all would go to his son’s computer.
Effectively cut off, Barney was isolated enough to have his children implant differing notions about his life. Whether they did so themselves or had professionals take over, after several weeks Barney effectively became a different person. Then they put him into a care facility.
Some might say they gave him exactly what he needed to have a quiet existence of repose. Others might say they took his life away. Some might say he succumbed to the external control, some may say it was the internal loss of control.
This, dear readers, is the up-close-and-personal variety of mind control.
When we looked into this, we learned from experts, as mentioned above, that there is no purpose for isolating a person so completely other than mind control. Other experts said that isolation and change of location and change of contacts is the worst thing for someone with any kind of dementia. Isolation is often used in brainwashing, and has absolutely no use in the treatment of Alzheimer’s. See, e.g., Psychological Factors in Exceptional, Extreme and Turturous Environments, by John Leach, on the US National Institutes of Health site at this page.
That confirms that the reason they did what they did was not for direct treatment of the dementia.
They may, of course, had many reasons. We can only speculate, not only about motives but about exactly what transpired. Such was also the case for Nichelle Nichols, and documentaries did speculate. We hope Barney had a good enough life thereafter. We also hope the same for Ms. Nichols, may they both rest in peace.
We have all seen mind control used in movies about spies and espionage and such. It probably happens much the same ways in real life – I don’t think I want to know the details.
Of course, some radio broadcasts during World War II were created as propaganda. Although such broadcasters as Axis Sally, Lord Haw Haw, Tokyo Rose, and others, did not directly brainwash anyone personally, that was their intent in a mass-effort way.
Sefton Delmer was another of the group, and he broadcast on a radio station that pretended to be a Nazi station inside Germany. Apparently he criticized both Allies and Nazi officials, to such an extent that they believed he himself was the one who was righteous in the Nazi Party. He had himself (or rather his character) executed on the air, and thereafter went on to create more such radio stations.
Meanwhile, Philippe Henriot was working to get the French to break from the Allies and join the Nazis. A minister in Vichy in the French government, he was a Nazi collaborator, and produced propaganda broadcasts. He was assassinated in 1944 by the Résistance.
Recently I’ve read Autocracy, Inc. by Anne Applebaum. Brainwashing seems to be a major subtext of all that the book reveals about our global situation.
Certainly all of this flying propaganda has had psychological effects when it has landed on receptive ears. It also has affected history.
And Further
We have been hearing lately about the possibility that foreign operatives are remotely using microwaves on the brains of those working in foreign service, thus directly physically affecting their brains and therefore subsequently their minds.
If there is anything more extreme than this in the way of mind control, I am certain I will hear about it. Please be gentle when you inform me.
Next time we will summarize what we have explored. Again, thank you for sticking with me.
