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(81,267 posts)They understand us better than we understand ourselves. Experts at psy-ops. And what are WE doing about it???
empedocles
(15,751 posts)Prided himself with much better information, [from unnamed rw sources]. He was a frequent acquaintance for over a year, ending in fall of 2018. In retrospect, he might have followed rw cover feeds - and been an unwitting Russian victim . Nam vet, I don't think he had any Russian news tolerance.
Ominous OP.
davekriss
(4,617 posts)backtoblue
(11,343 posts)Targeted propaganda through Cambridge Analytica, et al. Terrifying
I think when/if the entire scope of the psychological warfare used on our citizens becomes public, we're going to be horrified.
dixiegrrrrl
(60,010 posts)In recent years, Psy-Group has conceived of a variety of elaborate covert operations. In Amsterdam, the firm prepared a report on a religious sect called the Brunstad Christian Church, whose Norwegian leader, Psy-Group noted, claimed to have written a more important book than the New Testament. In Gabon, Psy-Group pitched Operation Bentleyan effort to preserve President Ali Bongo Ondimbas hold on power by collecting and disseminating intelligence about his main political rival. (Its unclear whether or not the operations in Amsterdam and Gabon were carried out. A spokesperson for Brunstad said that it was plainly ridiculous that the church considered any book to be more important than the Bible. Ondimbas representatives could not be reached for comment.) In another project, targeting the South African billionaire heirs of an apartheid-era skin-lightening company, Psy-Group secretly recorded family members of the heirs describing them as greedy and, in one case, as a piece of shit. In New York, Psy-Group mounted a campaign on behalf of wealthy Jewish-American donors to embarrass and intimidate activists on American college campuses who support a movement to put economic pressure on Israel because of its treatment of the Palestinians.
Psy-Groups larger ambition was to break into the U.S. election market. During the 2016 Presidential race, the company pitched members of Donald Trumps campaign team on its ability to influence the results. Psy-Groups owner, Joel Zamel, even asked Newt Gingrich, the former House Speaker, to offer Zamels services to Jared Kushner, Trumps son-in-law. The effort to drum up business included brash claims about the companys skills in online deception. The posturing was intended to attract clientsbut it also attracted the attention of the F.B.I. Robert Mueller, the special counsel, has been examining the firms activities as part of his investigation into Russian election interference and other matters.
https://www.democraticunderground.com/100211806780
japple
(9,825 posts)eom
HopeAgain
(4,407 posts)So many Americans leave school without any ability to think critically.
anarch
(6,535 posts)Brexit, this fucking disaster here in the U.S....pretty impressive results, really.
And their army of Weaponized Dumbasses is champing at the bit, ready and willing to rise up and slaughter "the libruls" at a moment's notice.
Why waste money building up a conventional military force, when you can employ social engineering and cyberattacks such that you can get your enemies to tear themselves apart from within?
Meanwhile, the Chinese have basically ascended to the top of the ladder when it comes to technological innovation and scientific knowledge--America's "education system" has given us a largely ignorant and frankly stupid population...great for guaranteeing a supply of gullible "consumers" and for keeping the GDP going mostly through debt obligations; not so great for meeting the challenges of the day (climate change chief among them, in my opinion).
Botany
(70,508 posts)BTW this tweet although it is true is pure gas lighting but after we take power back
Mr. Scherba might meet an early death or something.
Alwaysna
(574 posts)The brainwashed will believe it.
Mr.Bill
(24,292 posts)Perhaps the answer is to study those who weren't affected by it, and what we have in common.
I know people from all over the social, racial, financial, educational and religious spectrums who were taken in by this.
Wounded Bear
(58,656 posts)It was set up that way from the beginning. It's especially true when such small percentages of the population participates.
world wide wally
(21,743 posts)Botany
(70,508 posts).... of Americans would believe he was a smart and successful businessperson. Which truth
be told he was not. Don has been a con man for years and Russia used that and his ego and
personality disorders in order to put him in the White House.
Marcuse
(7,483 posts)DirtEdonE
(1,220 posts)And small minds rarely differ.
And that's because about one-third of the U.S. population is now officially just fucking stupid. And stupid always wins.
The stupid have won here.
"Stupidity is a more dangerous enemy of the good than malice. One may protest against evil; it can be exposed and, if need be, prevented by use of force. Evil always carries within itself the germ of its own subversion in that it leaves behind in human beings at least a sense of unease. Against stupidity we are defenseless. Neither protests nor the use of force accomplish anything here; reasons fall on deaf ears; facts that contradict ones prejudgment simply need not be believed in such moments the stupid person even becomes critical and when facts are irrefutable they are just pushed aside as inconsequential, as incidental. In all this the stupid person, in contrast to the malicious one, is utterly self satisfied and, being easily irritated, becomes dangerous by going on the attack. For that reason, greater caution is called for when dealing with a stupid person than with a malicious one. Never again will we try to persuade the stupid person with reasons, for it is senseless and dangerous."
- Dietrich Bonhoeffer
ananda
(28,860 posts)...
The_jackalope
(1,660 posts)The unholy quartet behind Brexit and the election of Trump - and who knows what other global chaos? All funded by Russian mob/government money.
How do we know we weren't also victims? They play both sides of the net.
pecosbob
(7,538 posts)but if I were president for a day, Vlad had better not step out of doors for very long or he'd be kissing a Tomahawk.
czarjak
(11,277 posts)Huh, Comrade?
That is pretty alarming. They are really good at what they do, we have every right to be alarmed.