I recommend a documentary called Hypernormalization2016. It discusses how political players around the world are getting better at staging political theater.
To many political readers, political theater has been around for a long time. The rallies and conventions are well-staged events, designed to pull at the heartstrings (and open wallets) of the followers of a political party. These events are considered fair game in politics. But the documentary takes political theater to a higher level.
One of the better examples from the documentary was the Kremlin’s use of their opposition. Agents infiltrated these organizations, whose funding came from “somewhere” to provide for a protest. The agents helped organize a protest, then hired outside thugs to agitate. So when the protesters and agitators got out of line, the police were ready, with TV cameras recording. The Kremlin looked like the good guys for stopping a violent protest that the Kremlin started organizing weeks before.
We have been inculcated into participating in democracy in certain ways. We vote. We protest. We write letters. We post articles and memes on the internet. We donate. We do drudgery work for political parties during the election. These are all acceptable ways for common people to participate.
When a football defense knows a 10-yard pass is the play, that defense will adjust to counter that 10-yard pass. Similarly, our political opposition knows how we will participate because that is what they have taught us to do. So, they can devise tactics to counter our political action, rendering our political efforts impotent. Their tactics are becoming more successful.
When we counter with the acceptable ways of participating in democracy, the enemies already know of our 10-yard pass. They are ready.
I am still flummoxed that 86 million Americans chose to sit out the 2024 election. In the theory of “voting for the lesser of two evils,” at least half of those people should have found the incentive to cast a vote in a Democrat way. And that would have given Ms. Harris a clear victory. All the gerrymandering, voter suppression, Russian trolls, and whatever other transgressions would have been insignificant to 30 million more Americans casting a vote. I am trying to figure out a political theater angle to this outcome. Like Cambridge Analytical manipulation in 2016, maybe the true story will come out later.
We must consider that our democratic actions might be part of someone else’s political theater. We just might be being manipulated. In other words, the THEY have a role for YOU to play in THEIR political theater. YOU will be helping THEIR agenda while making YOU believe YOU are working toward defeating THEM.
Watch Hypernormalization2016. It is scary. Since the documentary has been released, the practitioners have probably improved their skills.
What to do next?
The usual ways of political participation won’t work. The THEY already have a counter plan for these plans. We need a surprise plan:
Let’s build a new democracy.
The current milieu of political players (from both sides of the political divide) won’t see this new democracy coming. They are so much into the status quo — or something worse. By the time they take notice, this social/political movement will be too big for them to stop.
So “What is stopping you?”
I will tell you what is stopping you:
THEY have already inculcated YOU to vote, protest, donate, and complain as YOUR way to change things. YOU play that role, THEY know how to manipulate that kind of participation.
So if YOU are thinking, “It is impossible to build a new democracy,” THEY have already altered your psyche. THEY don’t want YOU to build this new democracy.
And for that reason alone, you should build this new democracy.
It will cost you 10 hours a month.
Published on Medium 2024
