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[grasswire]

55. the fine line of fascism

from wikipedia on citizen informants:

The use of citizen informant networks dates at least as far back as the Roman Empire. Delatores (informants) were recruited from all classes of society, including knights, freedmen, slaves, wealthy families, philosophers, literary men, court officials, lawyers, etc. Similar to the TIPS program, it was an "all hands on deck" approach to empire security. Setups were routine, and informants sometimes received a portion of the land of those who they helped destroy.

More recently the fascist dictatorship of Portugal used the International and State Defense Police (PIDE) as the main instrument of political oppression. It consisted of secret police and a vast network of Bufos (plain-clothed citizen informants), who were apparently on every block. Money and a need for recognition (a pat on the back) motivated them. Second only to the Stasi in its thoroughness, the PIDE neutralized all opposition to the dictatorship.

Other countries have used massive citizen informant networks to destroy perceived opposition to dictatorial rule as well. In Czechoslovakia they served the Czechoslovak State Security (StB), and in Poland they worked for the Ministry of Public Security (MBP). The citizen informants of the State Protection Authority (AVH) ensured the survival of the Hungarian dictatorship. Targets were harassed, threatened, confined to mental institutions, tortured, blackmailed, and framed. Even their friends and family were co-opted to persecute them.

Probably the best recent example of citizens Gang Stalking people on behalf of the state is East Germany. In Germany the plain-clothed citizen informants were called IMs (inofizielle mitarbeiter), or "unofficial collaborators." Unofficial means that they unofficially worked for the Ministry of State Security (MfS), also called the Stasi. For her book, Stasiland, Funder interviewed former IMs, targets, Stasi Psychologists, and professors who trained IM recruiters in Spezialdisziplin (the art of recruiting informants). "The IMs," wrote Funder, "were 'inofizielle mitarbeiter' or unofficial collaborators [plain-clothed citizen informants]."

Funder continued, "In the GDR, there was one Stasi officer or informant for every sixty-three people. If part-time informers are included, some estimates have the ratio as high as one informer for every 6.5 citizens." In his book, Stasi: The East German Secret Police, John O. Koehler agreed that when you add in the estimated part-time IMs, "the result is nothing short of monstrous: one informer per 6.5 citizens."

In Russia, the People's Brigades were told, "We have growing problems in our country with enemies of the state. They operate internally, intending to undermine the authority of our government." Sergei Kourdakov tells how he was used to harass enemies of the state in his book, The Persecutor.(*) These specialized groups were referred to as the Voluntary People's Brigade. They were given a "License to harass," and charged with the "Maintenance of Civil Order."

When they sprung up all over Russia they were directed by plain clothed police on orders from Moscow. The citizens were told that they were part of a "special-action squad" and would be given tasks that the regular police couldn't or didn't have time to handle. They wore regular street clothes, and were convinced that they were ordinary citizens aroused into taking action against undesirables. Their leaders informed them that some of the people they'd be harassing were worse than murderers