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The “Why this ‘human microphone’ thing is a BAD idea.” Morning Open Thread.

By: Moe Lane (Diary)  |  October 11th, 2011 at 08:00 AM  | 

RESIZE: AAA

I don’t care how much the practice makes people feel taken out of themselves and brought into the comforting embrace of the Collective Struggle Community – or whatever the buzzwords are – we have something called the ‘Internet’ now, and things that seem perfectly reasonable at the moment can give a completely different impression when captured by the uncaring eye of the camera.

Original video here: via Legal Insurrection and the Conservatory.  It would be a very, very cruel thing if people started infiltrating these goofballs with the goal of seeing how much of a Burma-Shave commercial they’d recite before a critical mass of the crowd caught on.

Open thread.

Moe Lane (crosspost)

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  • sbm1

    rather than a 99% thing, but maybe I am just hanging out with a sheltered group of people….

  • blooch

    “I, state your name….”

  • cirby

    …for indoctrination.

    Couple it with the “stacking” practice (where the organizers choose who gets priority to speak), and you get an old-fashioned brainwashing session.

    Get a bunch of people who are tired, somewhat exhilarated, and eager to fit in with the rest of the folks around them, and you get multiple hours of cult-level thought control per day. Keep them sleep-deprived, make them live in less-sanitary conditions, and tell them how guilty they should feel for being capitalists, and you’re in position to completely rewire the way they think about a lot of things.

  • nepanyrush

    “Brainwashingt session” “cult-level thought control” “rewire the way they think” “sleep deprived”

    You have a pretty low view of human beings. If people were so easily “brainwashed” then the same complaint could be made about the right being brainwashed via the information they receive or tea party rallies, etc. From my understanding, brainwashing has been an unsubstantiated attack used against any group with which one does not agree. And the fact is, the people attending these rallies probably have the same misguided views that the people opposed to them are brainwashed. Say what you want about the gatherings, but ‘brainwashing” is not one that would come to mind. Nor should it.

  • http://insureblog.blogspot.com/ hgstern

    Steve Martin had a bit about the Individuals’ Oath, whereby he called out each sentence, which was then repeated back to him by the audience:

    I promise to be different!

    I promise to be unique!

    I promise not to repeat things other people say…

    Prescient, that one.

  • nepanyrush

    nt

  • http://908StraightSt.wordpress.com/ mbecker908

    There is NO brainwashing going on at the OWS rallies.

    The idiots who are attending these rallies had their brains either washed or removed by liberal college professors.

    So, what do think about their demands?

  • blooch

    it’s about as close as you’ll get to Basic Training for comsymp hippie scum…who probably consider military Basic Training to be brainwashing.

  • Tbone

    that are getting washed.

  • steve010

    nt

  • theevenger

    I am viewing this on my mobile and cannot make out what they are saying.

  • http://thecorruptworld.blogspot.com/ wayneinnh

  • lineholder

    For those who don’t know, EPSN took Hank Jr’s song “Get Ready To Rumble” out of circulation for Monday night football. Well, Hank being a nonconformist if there was ever one, I guess he decided to respond. Here’s a story link and here’s the video promoting his new song “Keep The Change”

    http://townhall.com/tipsheet/katiepavlich/2011/10/11/hank_williams_jr_gets_revenge_with_new_song

  • ja_ak

    And I’m happy to have gone through it. You tear individuals down and rebuild them into something different – something dedicated to a higher calling. I’m not saying you erase a personality or any such nonsense, but you definately inculcate values and norms that are different from what the Basics / Privates held when they walked in the door.

    The repeating of mantras will help to promote group think. And people are definately more susceptible to it when tired, hurt, uncomfortable, etc. Push people further and further from their comfort zones, and they become much more amenable to persuasion.

    That’s actually why SERE training is such a valuable and painful experience. Start out cold, hungry, tired, and dirty, and then get subjected to interogation – let me say I had someone define, “wiping the look off your face” for me quite literally. Never smirk at an interogator, it makes them angry. However, it does give you the experience to anchor in something other than the moment, which this “soft” generation lacks.

  • westcoastpatriette

    .

  • lineholder

    ‘Patriette, I’m really hoping media sources on the right will learn something from this. IMO, they need to be really careful right now. Our nation has moved a long way to the left in regards to policy during Obama’s term. This has fed into the highly-charged anti-government, anti-politician environment we’re seeing right now.

    As people have become more aware of the tremendous amount of bias that is included in MSM reports, they’re experiencing a fair amount of anger directed at the MSM for failing to be genuinely objective in what kind of information is presented and how it is presented. (And this anger is justifiable as far that goes).

    But if media sources on the right go overboard with “spin” tactics of their own, that anger will be directed at those media sources as well. I don’t know what Fox News was thinking to approach this in the manner they did. Hank Jr. obviously has it within his means to call them on it, and that’s exactly what he’s done (And I don’t fault him one bit for doing that either).

    Still, the entire series of events wasn’t necessary. It’s these types of events that could come back to bite us in the backside if we aren’t careful.

  • westcoastpatriette

    Painful as all of this is for America, I see mostly good coming out of it all. In a sense, we get the gov’t. we deserve and Obama’s election has been our last wake-up call. By all that I mean, our nation became smug and ungrateful in the sense that we neglected our civic duties which resulted in the massive corruption we see in our midst now.

    Obama was the icing on the cake and God’s way (to those of us who believe) of showing us that we are not above self-destruction and our smugness and neglect have weakened us to the point that we seem barely able to defend ourselves against the most corrupt executive branch this nation has ever known.

    All of the above is what led me to study our Constitution and thrust myself into civic matters–local, state and national. In other words, I think that America took her blessings for granted and also the one responsible for those blessings and in the process, nearly lost them. Also, along the same vein, there are consequences for sin that God cannot prevent and the so-called “social” issues that most conservatives deem important are taking a heavy toll on our beloved country–(a little leaven leavens the whole lump?)

    At the risk of sounding “preachy”, we need the nation to turn back to God to get our spiritual bearings if we are going to survive, Something that only prayer and true repentance can accomplish.

  • lineholder

    everything you’ve stated here. As an everyday ordinary American citizen, at this point, I’d be overjoyed to see us get back to a more objective analysis of truth versus lie, right versus wrong. If we can succeed in even that much, it could make a lot of difference.

  • westcoastpatriette

    ..

  • CincoSolas_del_Bronx

    meerly 20 short blocksoff zucotti just go up bway righht onto park row pass the bridge but thi stime dont repeat dont stop to bot her w/the hisssss evilllll bluecoatses but keep going onto bowery where you might want to homage the many little people who loved Dear CHair man so much they are here now so idyllisticly resisting the %1 so that they might not have time to give you all free egg rollso keep goinng and you will soon I told you it was only 20 blocks didnt I its not like all the way 2 pretoria be at the bowery mission wear u get I kid you not a full plate for free even tho they make you sit through a stinking church thing 1sst but I am sure you can us the time to find some proliterate drunk who will come back with you to freedom among your comrades. hear. and u can both bring xtra baggels in pocketses for all to share

  • CincoSolas_del_Bronx
  • http://pocketchangeproductions.net/ anotherindyfilmguy

    Unedited footage of this “decision” making process is a laugh riot that self ridicules their whole movement. Some would like to demonize the pathetic sheep of OcWherever but they don’t need to be demonized, just laugh them off the street, for the rest let the cops deal with them after their stench grows to great for the local citizens to deal with.

  • mustango

    …may I suggest this one to hook them in:

    Candidate Says
    Campaign Confusing
    Babies Kiss Me
    Since I’ve Been Using
    Burma-Shave