Great write-up by @annaleen on the modern history of the pseudoscience of "brainwashing" and how it has been (/tried to be) used for mostly nefarious ends.
We can say this "psychopolitics" is part and parcel of what the great political scientist Richard Hofstadter termed the "paranoid style in American politics".
Awesome to see a mention of Liang Qichao and how his term "xinao" (wash-brain) which meant modernization was usurped and became a negative connotation. He was one of the great early reformers who wanted to modernize Chinese philosophy by seeking a radical break from Confucianism. Pankaj Mishra's "From the ruins of empire" does a great job of his intellectual response to western imperialism in remaking Asia.
First time also hearing/reading about "stochastic terrorism".
Hot Take:
We should teach the #Bible in public schools.
The three religions most active in #AmericanPolitics all claim to believe in at least the first half of this book, and it is the most misquoted and misrepresented book on the planet, because most of the #voters have never read it.
In a functional #democracy, it is unacceptable for so much of the voting base to be completely ignorant on a factor which drives policy on such a massive scale.
An unmatched guide to the religious dimensions of American politics, Jeff Sharlet journeys into corners of our national psyche where others fear to tread. The Undertow is both inquiry and meditation, an attempt to understand how, over the last decade, reaction has morphed into delusion, social division into distrust, distrust into paranoia, and hatred into fantasies—sometimes realities—of violence.
The Inside Story of Putin's War on America and the Election of Donald Trump
The incredible, harrowing account of how American democracy was hacked by Moscow as part of a covert operation to influence the U.S. election and help Donald Trump gain the presidency.
Sometimes I feel like we pick our president by the ability to chew solid food or not. If they can, send them to the Senate, I'd not that's our next president 🥲😂🤣 #America#americanpolitics