Handbook for Would-be Supreme Leaders
**Editorial Note 11/19/15** The following is excerpted from notes I started for some story or other after the 9/11 attacks on NYC and DC.
Love must be turned to hate. Love and hate are not opposing emotions. One slides effortlessly into the other if nudged in the right direction. Love of something or someone must be turned to hate of something else or someone else.
All questions posed to the body politic must be binary. Us or Them. With us or against us. Black or white. Yes or no. Now or never. My way or the highway. Life or death. Eliminate all subtly of thought and all nuance of understanding. Questions must be simple and solutions must be simple.
Keep it simple. Everything must be simple and action oriented. Eliminate thought as much as possible.
Keep the people busy with tasks.
Heighten the sense of danger through complex procedures, special drills and special lnaguage about the danger.
Use fear to motivate and to control. Fear is by far the most powerful emotion.
The enemy is a cartoon character. Do not ever let the enemy appear human.
Challenge the patriotism of any dissenting voice. Hint that dissent is treason. Then declare that dissent is treason.
Don't let people think too much. Keep up the pace of action. Keep action ahead of thought.
If you can't kill the historians, at least discredit them. Historians are your greatest enemy. Rememeber 1984 - he who controls the present controls the past; he who controls the past controls the future.
Ensure all opposition is villified. Use simple, powerful adjectives. Group them all together. They are "reactionaries", "counter revolutionaries," "liberals", "conservatives"... label them and lump them all into the same fearsome conspiracy.
The enemy is always, always, always more powerful and dangerous than the good people. Only the Supreme Leader can redress the balance of power. Without him, the enemy will win.
Be loud. Be louder. Remember first grade - loudest kid wins. Turn your population into adolescents and children.
Get the people with economic power behind you. Failing this, strip them of economic power and give it to another small, concentrated group of loyalists. Either way works. Ensure they udnerstand that you are the keeper of the keys of wealth and power.
Your benevolence must be frightening. It is better to be feared than loved - but it's best to be both.
Slogans simplify language and the conversation. Use them to simplify people's thinking. Allow no complexity.
Don't let the struggle end. Victory must always be around the corner - attainable, but never attained.
Make sure everyone in engaged. The struggle should be the predominant topic in all conversation.
Spread rumor and disinformation through the press and through unofficial channels. Statistics are awesome ways to lie.
Maintain the illusion of a free press.
Maintain the illusion that the people are meaningfully involved in decisions.
Have a dog or two. Be seen with your children and your wife.
Smile but always look sad and exhausted.
Never fully defeat the enemy. Make sure there is always an enemy. See "enemy is always more powerful than us."
Violence must always escalate. Dehumanize the enemy to justify your acts of cruelty. Educate that cruelty is the only answer. Your people need to become accepting and expecting of cruelty.
If the enemy is real and starts to falter, make sure you prop him up somehow. You can't survive without him.
Give your people a break - let them relax - then hit them again even harder. Repeated cycles of fear and safety will simplify their outlook and cleanse them of any thoughts and instincts beyond violence and survival.
