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Marxism Is a Gulag of the Mind. The left manipulates politics by inverting the meaning of terms like ‘democracy’ and ‘equity.’
Wall Street Journal ^ | May 14, 2024 | Gary Saul Morson

Posted on 05/19/2024 7:23:09 AM PDT by karpov

Back when there were still two Germanys, one a parliamentary democracy aligned with the West and one a Soviet satellite surveillance state, I had trouble remembering which was the Federal Republic and which the Democratic Republic—until I realized that the one calling itself democratic wasn’t. Even today, North Korea’s official name is the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. The least democratic regimes in the world pretend to be the most democratic.

Then as now, Marxists and those who have learned from them often justify abuse of language by redefining the key term. Words come to mean their opposite. To the Soviets, “true” democracy wasn’t a matter of voting for one of two indistinguishable parties, but of justice. So used, the word “true” means “false.”

On paper, the Soviet Constitution of 1936 was the most liberal in the world. It granted universal suffrage, direct elections, the right to work and equal status to all ethnicities. It also established freedom of conscience, religion and speech. In practice, of course, none of it was true. The Soviets persecuted religious believers and arrested people for the mildest criticisms—even for supposedly anti-Soviet thoughts. The right to work meant the obligation to work, often in appalling conditions and with lateness punishable by exile to Siberia.

Other examples come to mind. Think of some “peace” movements. My Russian history teacher, Firuz Kazemzadeh, recalled that after World War II ardent pacifists in Western European cities asked people to sign petitions demanding unilateral disarmament. Kazemzadeh was well aware that the Soviets, who were rebuilding their military and surreptitiously solidifying control of Eastern European countries, sponsored European peace movements. If you had expansionist aims, wouldn’t you want your enemy to disarm?

The Marxist impulse is always to accuse your opponent of what you are doing or plan to do.

(Excerpt) Read more at wsj.com ...


TOPICS: Philosophy; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: 1619project; 2ndamendment; abortion; banglist; bideneffect; blackkk; blackliesmanors; blackliesmatter; blacklivesmatter; blm; criticalracetheory; crt; marxism; nra; plannedparenthood; righttolife; roevswade; secondamendment
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1 posted on 05/19/2024 7:23:09 AM PDT by karpov
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To: karpov

Criminal thinking is the operator of the gulag. Criminal behavior is caused by criminal thinking. “Inside The Criminal Mind”- Stanton Samenow

“Definitions are the guardians of rationality, the first line of defense against the chaos of mental disintegration.” - Ayn Rand


2 posted on 05/19/2024 7:36:04 AM PDT by PGalt (Past Peak Civilization?)
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To: PGalt

-——Theodore Dalrymple———

“In my study of communist societies, I came to the conclusion that
the purpose of communist propaganda was not to persuade or convince, not
to inform, but to humiliate; and therefore, the less it corresponded to
reality the better.

When people are forced to remain silent when they
are being told the most obvious lies, or even worse when they are forced
to repeat the lies themselves, they lose once and for all their sense
of probity. To assent to obvious lies is...in some small way to become
evil oneself.

One’s standing to resist anything is thus eroded, and even
destroyed. A society of emasculated liars is easy to control. I think
if you examine political correctness, it has the same effect and is
intended to.”

Written by Theodore Dalrymple


3 posted on 05/19/2024 7:44:11 AM PDT by Bob434
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To: karpov

bkmk


4 posted on 05/19/2024 7:48:20 AM PDT by sauropod ("This is a time when people reveal themselves for who they are." James O'Keefe Ne supra crepidam)
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To: karpov

I agree.

The reversal or inverse description of anything in existence, is meant to bring a “no, wait!” moment to a cclear mind, thus inputting doubt where none existed.

We can look back as far as Bill Clinton, and his devious “argument of ‘is’”, as a good example.

“Ya mess wid duh woids til d’ey mean nuttin tuh nobody, d’en ya’s spring duh new woids, an’ ever’body sez ‘ok!’


5 posted on 05/19/2024 7:52:30 AM PDT by Terry L Smith
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To: Terry L Smith

[[, thus inputting doubt where none existed.]]

Which is also the goal of gaslighting- taking so eone who knows better, gaslighting them, brow beating them, belittling them u til their resistance to nonsense and lies gets broken... it’s a form of brainwashing really, using both psychological and at times physical abuse to break down the common sense defenses of the victims


6 posted on 05/19/2024 7:55:20 AM PDT by Bob434
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To: karpov

I remember when Sadam Husein ran for president of Iraq every turn and was always unopposed. He also got 100% of the votes, as no one wrote in protest votes, apparently.

These are the types of “democracies” the American left envies.


7 posted on 05/19/2024 7:57:36 AM PDT by unlearner (I, Robot: I think I finally understand why Dr. Lanning created me... ;-)
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To: karpov

bfl


8 posted on 05/19/2024 8:06:01 AM PDT by ClearCase_guy (It's not "Quiet Quitting" -- it's "Going Galt".)
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To: Bob434
When people are forced to remain silent when they are being told the most obvious lies, or even worse when they are forced to repeat the lies themselves, they lose once and for all their sense of probity. To assent to obvious lies is...in some small way to become evil oneself.

One’s standing to resist anything is thus eroded, and even destroyed. A society of emasculated liars is easy to control. I think if you examine political correctness, it has the same effect and is intended to.”

Thanks for posting - worth repeating...

9 posted on 05/19/2024 8:08:14 AM PDT by GOPJ ( MSNBC ghouls pretend their 'base' is elites - it's why Biden won't campaign in the black community.)
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To: GOPJ

You’re welcome. I have the quote in my profile page if you ever need it for a thread- he nailed it for sure. The left are throwing out absolutely asinine nonsense and demanding that the world accept and repeat the obviously blatant lies


10 posted on 05/19/2024 8:10:35 AM PDT by Bob434
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To: karpov
The world's also filled with high sounding legal systems.. but as we're recently discovered a legal system is only as good as the integrity of the people practicing it...

In short - words are cheap...

11 posted on 05/19/2024 8:11:39 AM PDT by GOPJ ( MSNBC ghouls pretend their 'base' is elites - it's why Biden won't campaign in the black community.)
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To: Bob434

Great thought by Dalrymple. Thanks Bob.


12 posted on 05/19/2024 8:24:40 AM PDT by PGalt (Past Peak Civilization?)
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To: Bob434

Bob, checked your homepage. What a find - and the guy’s written books.. “Life at the Bottom: The Worldview That Makes the Underclass” is now on my ‘must read’ list. Thanks so much for the quote and the direction.

https://www.amazon.com/Life-Bottom-Worldview-Makes-Underclass/dp/1566635055/ref=zg-te-pba_d_sccl_2_1/140-5087437-8476255?pd_rd_w=HaAiP&content-id=amzn1.sym.081392b0-c07f-4fc2-8965-84d15d431f0d&pf_rd_p=081392b0-c07f-4fc2-8965-84d15d431f0d&pf_rd_r=4TYVGR9E9XQN0HYB0DFN&pd_rd_wg=rArpl&pd_rd_r=73f135e8-5220-4b7b-a27b-574fdbac43ee&pd_rd_i=1566635055&psc=1

Theodore Dalrymple, a British psychiatrist who treats the poor in a slum hospital and a prison in England, has seemingly seen it all. Yet in listening to and observing his patients, he is continually astonished by the latest twist of depravity that exceeds even his own considerable experience. Dalrymple’s key insight in Life at the Bottom is that long-term poverty is caused not by economics but by a dysfunctional set of values, one that is continually reinforced by an elite culture searching for victims. This culture persuades those at the bottom that they have no responsibility for their actions and are not the molders of their own lives. Drawn from the pages of the cutting-edge political and cultural quarterly City Journal, Dalrymple’s book draws upon scores of eye-opening, true-life vignettes that are by turns hilariously funny, chillingly horrifying, and all too revealing-sometimes all at once. And Dalrymple writes in prose that transcends journalism and achieves the quality of literature.


13 posted on 05/19/2024 8:26:56 AM PDT by GOPJ ( MSNBC ghouls pretend their 'base' is elites - it's why Biden won't campaign in the black community.)
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To: karpov

The article’s main point is exemplified by Joe Biden and all his protectors in the Democratic party, as he Biden, is the most undemocratic President since Obama, and they all claim Trump is the “threat to democracy”.

EVERYONE can interpret what the Dims really mean when they claim someone is a “threat to democracy”. It means someone is a threat to them.


14 posted on 05/19/2024 8:38:51 AM PDT by Wuli
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To: karpov
accuse your opponent of what you are doing or plan to do.

sounds like an old trick

15 posted on 05/19/2024 8:45:59 AM PDT by aspasia
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To: PGalt

NP- He really nails what’s going on in the world, and what it does to people-


16 posted on 05/19/2024 8:49:08 AM PDT by Bob434
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To: karpov

The Neocons are giving the Marxists a run for their money with their Orwellian newspeak of late, but then the Neocons have trotskyist roots


17 posted on 05/19/2024 8:57:42 AM PDT by who_would_fardels_bear (Kafka was an optimist.)
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To: karpov

It sickens me to hear these puke rat politicians, the scumedia, or the regime speak about “saving democracy”


18 posted on 05/19/2024 8:59:44 AM PDT by ronnie raygun
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To: karpov

BTT


19 posted on 05/19/2024 9:07:28 AM PDT by GailA (Land Grabs, Poisoned Food, KILL the COWS, Bidenomics=BIDEN DEPRESSION. STAGNATION)
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To: karpov

The republicans eagerly fund it. Demonizing the left without cleaning us our party is clickbait without substance.
MTG was exposed as making millions off insider trading via the Ukraine war.
The problem is our side.


20 posted on 05/19/2024 9:19:07 AM PDT by momincombatboots (BQEphesians 6... who you are really at war with.)
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