Reply #28: That simplifies

[PATRICK]

cognitive dissonance nicely, which itself really does not thoroughly make the concept understandable. I think it is a bit more than that. The Germans certainly had their faces rubbed into the Holocaust. Two results. First you have a very very strong institutional guard against any aspect of fascism. Second, the old prejudices and hates remain but underground, I would guess in about the same numbers as during the war. The war excited other political vices and lusts to brutalize the nation and more numbers. Afterward, denial even when the democratic state warred against it constantly.

The Dems astutely presume that that 60% will simply sulk or revolt by voting for the Dems, but never really want the truth or radical reform the other way. Everything they do seems crafted NOT to behave like postwar German democracy but to make life comfortable with myths for the "bamboozled".

Now are these the only two ways? Constant but unwinnable war(so far) against common mental social vices or appeasement of the electorate until they become less brutalized and self-destructive? The vaunted specter of education keeps getting raised, but that never has ensured victory, nor has even a kinder more truthful propaganda.

My point is that a sizable number of people in a poisoned generation have fallen for the evil and won't get up. There is a malevolent tone to the stubbornness that you won't find among truly sincerely duped decent people. The corrupted need to actually convert or repent if you will. That cannot be forced or guaranteed. A deep spiritual choice has insidiously been made even by accepting wrongly the leadership of lying authorities. You are asking a lot of people in this state and that should be appreciated, especially when they do start back to the truth. A swift interior check should show that all of us have experienced this to some degree or other.

The lie is powerful because it erases all the personal pain of dealing with reality. The truth is more powerful because it kills and damns you no matter how glamorous the fantasies you empower temporarily. People usually idolize themselves as their own false god and the props are very sad and contradictory to this internal pride.