Monday, October 6, 2025

Fascism For Dummies, Revisited

The More Things Strange, The More They Stay The Shame

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October 6, 2025

While rummaging around the basement of our secret, undisclosed, non-existent Paying Attention™ headquarters we came across years of I. Mangrey’s pre-natal work. This piece was written seven years before I made his now undeniable (almost invisible) impact on America’s political and social discourse. Who can forget the heady (That’s Headly!?) Bush II years, when dinosaurs (Cheney, Rumsfeld, et al) roamed the Earth? Remember how horrible things were back then? Turns out, not so much.

From December 7, 2004 – a date that will live in obscurity – we present untouched and unwanted...

Fascism For Dummies* 

A good way to set the stage for your new regime is to redistribute the wealth by pretending to take from the rich and give to the poor, but actually do the opposite. Sprinkle a smattering to the middle class, making them think they're being taken care of. Give nothing to the poor who desperately need it thereby leaving them little alternative other than crime or joining the military. Create clever slogans that make people think that you are giving them control over their own health insurance, retirement security and unemployment insurance and that this will serve them better than if the government who takes so much of their money in taxes can do. While it is true that the government is doing a poor job of all these things, it is only for lack of actual commitment to providing real social services. Doing this on a personal level would not be even marginally possible for the average person.

 Step One: Wait for (or whatever) a tragic attack on American interests (or better yet American soil) that will shock and awe the public into following any available "leader" wherever he may lead. Find a suitable target for hatred and rally the nation behind gittin' him dead or alive then ignore him completely and attack an uninvolved but hated and powerless country by pretending said country is the biggest threat to national and world security by lying, distorting facts and more lying - if necessary. And remember - the Geneva Accords are only for lesser countries to obey. 

Step Two: Make certain the mainstream media is highly concentrated in a few sympathetic hands so as not to allow too much contrary, that is,  true, information to reach the public awareness. Disseminate clear, slogan-like talking-points to said media for them to repeat often enough that all sympathetic or even just plain pathetic citizens can repeat them also, making the slogans feel like facts and obscuring any contrary, although actually true messages that may interfere - regardless of factual content. Actual unscripted press conferences should be avoided at all costs. If you must have one be sure to minimize the participation of any reporter who is not on board with your pre-fabricated talking points. 

Step Three: Stifle any dissenting voices that may have unwittingly been allowed to become part of the administration until the dissenters resign to spend more time with their families. Replace any and all dissenters with absolute loyalists who would never have the brains or guts to question or disagree with anything for any reason. Keep everything possible a secret except the names of any undercover agents that may be married to a dissenter. Propagate lies whenever necessary or even just enjoyable to persuade the easily persuaded and voluntarily uninformed that everything you want them to believe is absolutely true. Never take responsibility or hold any valued members of your administration responsible for any wrongdoing or major debacle of any kind. Never admit a mistake or change course in any way unless it serves your future purposes. Accuse any who oppose your policy of treason or aiding and abetting the enemy. 

Step Four: Allow for the appearance of a legitimate election to show the nation and the world that you are loved and revered but, just to be safe, make sure voting machines sans paper trails are made by a staunch supporter in a key state. Also, be sure to minimize opposition voters in every possible way. Examples include closing off streets where voting takes place and activate construction crews on election day, in districts where the opposition is strong place one voting machine for every thousand or so people instead of one for every hundred or so where you are favored, send mailings to unsophisticated voters scaring them away form polling places by threatening arrest or collection of unpaid child support, create an obvious police presence in and around polling places to intimidate minority voters and make sure to control vote counting processes wherever possible. 

Step Five: Purge all intelligence agencies of dissenters at every level. Even though this will severely cripple said agencies it must be done. There's nothing more dangerous than creative, free-thinking intelligence specialists. Intelligence is no longer necessary since all "reality" is now being manufactured directly from the White House. Don't be shy about shooting non-violent protesters if they are annoying or saying things you don't want people to hear. If shooting them down in the streets seems inappropriate at the time, just roll a couple of tanks up in their faces and make them think about how important their message really is. 

Step Six: The rest is strictly based on personal preference and style. Mass arrests, killings, scapegoating a particular group - it's strictly up to you. Do whatever you think you can get away with, most of which should be fairly easy if you've successfully carried out the previous steps. However, every country and every era is different. Sometimes tried and true methods work very well, but sometimes you must forego methods that have already gained notoriety - at least in the early stages. Once your control is absolute you can probably get away with murder as the saying goes. Actually it's not just a saying - it can be a very satisfying and effective means of keeping absolute control so don't sell this one short. 

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*A theme that would persist across the years, now decades of missives, meanderings and motifs seen regularly at Paying Attention™.

 

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