5 Ways Powerful People Trick You Into Hating Underdogs

originally posted by: Quetzalcoatl14
It is true that ALL groups of people can be manipulated, using real issues to reach a questionable end. For example, racism is real, and some minority groups are still experiencing the effects of historical oppression (poverty). Before you disagree, it's well established by social science.

However, it would seem that some of the recent divide is almost encouraged or manipulated by someone with an ulterior motive. Divide and conquer.

It could be true as you say with poor versus rich. HOWEVER, never make the mistake of somehow equating the people who actually are oppressed with the non-oppressed. A few rich people getting unfairly blamed or slandered (which can happen in some cases) is in no way shape or form the same difficulty that the extreme poor face. Moreover, the poor do not hold the reigns of power, they do not experience the same justice system outcomes, they don't make the laws usually, etc. So your point only goes so far.

I agree that using some real issues, or real points, is a common tactic as well. The most effective lies always have little bits of truth woven in, to make them more believable. That's been the case for practically as ling as we have existed. Regarding the racial problems we see today, a lot of that is due to the deliberate manipulation you suggest. That is very real. The motive there is, I strongly suspect, the same as it was for Sanger and others of her ilk. Many people don't realize just how widespread eugenics beliefs were in those days. I never believed they simply came to their senses, grew a conscience, and melted away after WWII and the exposure the Nazis gave to such beliefs; I believe they simply moved underground. Divide and conquer, indeed.

That's the issue I have; that some blame all wealthy for the things a few actually do. There are, of course, some mega=rich that control quite a lot, get away with pretty much anything (literally), and have a hand in directing whole governments, controlling the media, and so forth, but not every wealthy person is that wealthy, or has anything like that degree of control. Plus, not all are extremely poor, and some that are really did put themselves there. As an example, I will offer someone I know well; my own brother. A very teeny degree of blame for his situation could be placed with my mother, because she never made him follow any rules (as both his older siblings were made to do), but most lies directly with him. Both myself and my sister tried warning him for years that he needed to change, and he refused to listen. When our dad was around, my brother would work, but once Dad was gone, my brother didn't work, had our mom paying for everything he wanted (including a car, tons of expensive VHS sets, swords, a go-cart, and more), partied on her dime, and did no work at all. None, even so much as cleaning up after himself. Our mother was disabled, too, and could not handle the household chores, but that didn't even fall into the consideration of my brother. He simply didn't care. He actually bragged to me that he bragged to his friends about how she paid for everything, and he didn't have to work. He is completely shameless. After our mother was gone, all of that dried up, of course. The money that could have supported her in comfort for a long time was all spent, and the house, in which he'd been living alone (she was with my sister, to get some degree of care, and we were out of state) was falling apart, because he did nothing at all to make it livable. That was sold, and the money divided up between the three of us. At that point, he actually stopped speaking to me for years, because I refused to simply give him my share, which he felt was his "right", to be able to get a place of his own, with no issues. Never mind that he had enough to get into a rental; he wanted it all, so he could purchase outright a trailer. Even though he managed to do just that with his share, he was furious that I didn't give him mine as well. He seemed to believe he was owed that money, for the hard duty of living off her for years, and doing nothing to even take care of her. He ended up losing employment, because he thinks he's smarter than everyone he works for, lost his place, because he was too irresponsible to pay the lot rental, and then didn't move it, and ended up moving in with our sister for a while. When he lost the new job, stole from her and her family, broke things, and treated everyone like crap, they demanded he leave. Having only a small part of that data, I allowed him to move in with us, in another state. He displayed a horrifying lack of personal hygiene while with us, balked at looking for work in a town where work was, and is, plentiful for hourly jobs, broke things whenever he got mad about something, yelled at the kids for no reason at all, stole money and other items from us, and was overall so impossible to live with that my kids who like most people and are very sweet, don't care if they ever see him again. When his departure was delayed for a day, because he simply didn't get on the bus, they looked shell shocked when he walked back in the door. These days, he's homeless, has alienated practically all of his friends the same way he did with his siblings, and his few and far between contacts to my sister are all various stories concocted to try and get her to give him money. I have NO sympathy for him at all. Zero. I know well that there are homeless people (certainly the poorest among us) who are there through no fault of their own. These people would welcome an opportunity to improve their situation, take any work they could get, and do everything they could to get back on their feet. There are some like my brother, though, who did it to themselves, and that's the case for others who aren't quite as bad off.

Well, rant off, but you get the idea. Just as I won't judge all very poor people by my brother, I won't judge all rich by the actions of a few. I also won't excuse the bad actions of those in the wrong, of either group, because some in the group aren't that way. The propaganda mentioned in the OP wants us to blame whole groups, and it goes all directions. Whatever group most are inclined to blame, they will blame, because of the effectiveness of the tactics used. The system is hardest for those at the very bottom, of course, as you stated. Having a large group of basically helpless people to control is key to any plan for the controlling true elite.

originally posted by: Avicenne
Malcolm X said it best...

 

BOOM!

originally posted by: Krazysh0t
a reply to: LadyGreenEyes

Read my post above this one or Quetzalcoatl14's post directed at you. I elaborated a little bit better than that post I responded to you on, and Quetzalcoatl explains it better than I did.

Also, I'm not trying to push propaganda against the rich either. I just don't care about their plights as a group of people. They are more equal than everyone else (since they literally designed the system that way), they need to be knocked back down to everyone's level. That's not propaganda or lying about them either. It's just the truth.

Oh, I get that! I know you aren't, and just wanted to point out how it could work. Plus, that all wealthy be knocked down wouldn't be the best plan, either. The mega-rich control freaks? Sure! Today, please! The ones that worked hard, set up successful businesses, and provide good jobs? They are alright. I guess it depends on whether you place all "rich" in the same category. To the average well-off person (rich by my standards), the mega-rich are still a world away.

Excellent thread, btw.

The power of media, the ability to show people what you want. There's always two sides to a story, the most common thing that people encounter everywhere. We all know that game but no one ever seems to look at it for what it is. You're told one side and the other side is purely bad.

a reply to: LadyGreenEyes

I'm talking about redesigning the system so that the rich (any rich) aren't more equal than anyone else. Rich people shouldn't be beating murder charges because the judge thinks the person didn't know any better. That is the "more equal" that I'm talking about. That kid wasn't a the son of an ultra-rich family, but he still benefited from the system being designed in his favor.