Tuesday 19 October 2021

The kinder, gentler gaslighters


Remember when Jeremy Corbyn said he wanted a find a less abusive way of doing politics?

And how the commentariat class absolutely ridiculed him for it, using the phrase "kinder gentler politics" whenever anyone from the left as much as used a swear word, despite Corbyn himself remaining calm, polite, and dignified in the face of undoubtedly the most concerted UK media vilification campaign in living memory.

The political establishment class and corporate media hack pack worked together to whip up raging firestorms of anti-left hatred; they accused Corbyn of disrespecting veterans by not bowing deeply enough at the Cenotaph; the next year they faked photos of Corbyn supposedly dancing at the Cenotaph; they faked photos of him wearing a Russian-style hat on a Kremlin background; they endlessly platformed every deranged anti-Corbyn ranter they could find; they spliced the wrong answers onto different questions to create outrage-mongering 'fake news' (and kept their jobs when caught red-handed); they derided Corbyn's "Chairman Mao style bicycle"; they spread nonsensical conspiracy theories about Corbyn being some kind of Czech Spy, Russian stooge, terrorism-loving, communist, Jew-hater; they ridiculed and grossly misrepresented virtually every policy position Corbyn ever took ("nationalise sausages"!); and they churned out endless hate-mongering rabble-rousing articles like "Labour Must Kill Vampire Jezza".

Just some of the political and media figures to switch
seamlessly from vilifying Corbyn to pretending they
oppose online hatred and abuse!
Then oh how they erupted in fits of laughter and frivolity when Corbyn was violently assaulted by that right-wing extremist; and how they chuckled and then instantly forgot about it when British soldiers used Corbyn's face as a target on a shooting range; and then they just ignored the multiple assaults on elderly Labour Party campaigners during the 2019 election (whilst uncritically amplifying outright Tory lies about Matt Hancock's aide supposedly being "punched" by a Corbyn-supporter).

To top it all off, they barely even bothered to object to the terrorist assassination plot against Corbyn and Sadiq Khan by the extreme-right Finsbury Park killer; or any of the numerous other examples of abuse and death threats against Corbyn and the Labour leadership team.

In fact their priorities were so utterly warped that they created vastly more faux outrage about a so-called "brick" through Angela Eagle's window in 2016, despite no evidence of who actually did it ever emerging, than coverage of an actual death threat made against Corbyn in the same week as brick-gate!

The political establishment and the commentariat class deliberately whipped up these firestorms of hatred because they detested normal democratic socialist policies like nationalised rail, energy, and water so much, and outright rejected the idea that the very-rich should just pay a bit more into the pot.

Then when their hate-mongering delivered the inevitable abusive, violent, and potentially deadly consequences, they simply turned their backs, refused to report it, belittled it, or even outright laughed at it.

Well now the very same people are all suddenly saying they want a 'kinder, gentler politics' in order to promote a right-wing authoritarian Tory crackdown on our Internet freedoms.

The gaslighting bastards!




NOTE: Of course these people and their supporters will resort to victim posturing, and pretending that proven facts about the vilification of Corbyn, and the conclusion "gaslighting bastards!" constitute the kind of horrifying abuse they're suddenly so concerned about. They didn't get where they were within the establishment order without knowing how to distort and manipulate everything to their advantage.

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26 comments:

Mr. Magoo said...

In case you've missed it, paolo-56 wrote this comment for you under your recent article about the water supply:

"Completely off-topic, but I don't know how otherwise to get a message to you. How do we cancel or amend our Gocardless subscriptions? There doesn't seem to be any facility on the blog to do this. Cheers."

Debbie Ray said...

https://support.gocardless.com/hc/en-gb/articles/115002289925-Cancelling-a-plan

Anonymous said...

A great man once said:

"I sometimes fear that
people think that fascism arrives in fancy dress
worn by grotesques and monsters
as played out in endless re-runs of the Nazis."

True that.

"Fascism arrives as your friend. " For the many not the few ... That's nice.
It will restore your honour," Remember the coal mines and British industry!
make you feel proud," The NHS! Save it! Together!
protect your house," Free social housing for everyone!
give you a job," Increase public sector pay!
clean up the neighbourhood," Increase public sector pay including cleaners!
remind you of how great you once were," We got it dead right post war, then Thatcher fucked it guys.
clear out the venal and the corrupt," Who was it who said Castro was an exemplar of social justice..?
remove anything you feel is unlike you..." That anti-imperialist curriculum will tell the kids how it really was.

It doesn't walk in saying,
"Our programme means militias, mass imprisonments, transportations, war and persecution."

No. It calls everyone who disagrees a capitalist and has the state take over. Like Hitler.

Mr. Magoo said...

Where the term 'gaslighting' comes from and what it means:

"In the 1944 film Gaslight, a young couple (Charles Boyer and Ingrid Bergman) move back into the house of her aunt, murdered years before. The wife is an ordinary and intelligent woman, however she is subtly undermined by her husband’s constant references to her forgetfulness, silly anxieties and overactive imagination. He says these things so often, she thinks they must be true. When she starts to hear strange noises in the ceiling, he clucks soothingly, tells her she’s tired and advises her to get better rest. When the lights keep going down on the gas lamps, he expresses heartfelt concern that she’s becoming overwrought, and needs medication. He makes her doubt the evidence of her senses. He makes her think she’s going mad. In fact, he is doing it all on purpose. The plan is to have her committed to a mental institution so he can steal her inheritance from the aunt he murdered. He is foiled in the end, of course, but she is left a traumatised wreck.

"The term gaslighting has come to describe a ‘form of psychological manipulation in which a person… covertly sows seeds of doubt in a targeted individual… making them question their own memory, perception, or judgment, often evoking in them… low self-esteem. Using denial, misdirection, contradiction, and misinformation, gaslighting involves attempts to destabilise the victim and delegitimise the victim’s beliefs’ (Wikipedia)." - Taken from the Socialist Standard article CAPITALISM BY GASLIGHT by PJS.

Unsurprisingly, I highly recommend reading the rest of his article: https://www.worldsocialism.org/spgb/socialist-standard/2020/2020s/no-1394-october-2020/pathfinders-capitalism-by-gaslight/

Scrotox said...

You seem to be implying that JC resembles Hitler because he advocates socialised healthcare and publicly owned/funded vital infrastructure.
It may come as a surprise to you to learn that there are a number of advanced industrial nations around the planet that have those things, and they aren't run by Nazis.
It's called social democracy.

Anyway, in case the supply lines go down, I strongly advise that you start panic buying tin foil now, so you don't run out of the little hats you like to make for yourself.

Anonymous said...

@Scrotox

"You seem to be implying that JC resembles Hitler because he advocates socialised healthcare and publicly owned/funded vital infrastructure."

Well that and his advocacy for discriminating people based on race and cosying up to Castro, y'know, the guy who took away cubans basic freedoms, tortured people and slived the life of a billionaire whilst starvation ran rampant through his country because of his er, 're-allocation of the means of production'. Funny how you missed those points ...

"It may come as a surprise to you to learn that there are a number of advanced industrial nations around the planet that have those things, and they aren't run by Nazis." Yes well done, I don't think the UK is run by Nazi's, lol.

"It's called social democracy." A laughable term that does not encompass the complicated natures of entire countries economies.

"Anyway, in case the supply lines go down, I strongly advise that you start panic buying tin foil now, so you don't run out of the little hats you like to make for yourself."

If you think I'm making any of this up; just look at the 2019 Labour conference. Hell you've still go the outright racists in charge now. That fellow at the last one calling for all the white men to keep their hands down for instance. Lol, no amount of calling me a tinfoil hat guy is going to deal with your denial there chum.

Anonymous said...

@MrMagoo

"The term gaslighting has come to describe a ‘form of psychological manipulation in which a person… covertly sows seeds of doubt in a targeted individual… making them question their own memory, perception, or judgment, often evoking in them… low self-esteem. Using denial, misdirection, contradiction, and misinformation, gaslighting involves attempts to destabilise the victim and delegitimise the victim’s beliefs’

You mean like telling people that they're only thinking what they believe, not because of historically referenced events or facts, but because capitalism has made them think this way, they're oppressed and they need to do as their told by a socialist?

I checked your link. Just a thought on the climate crisis; Al Gore said in 2009 that we had ten years before the world was engulfed in fire ... Obviously that's not happened. Alexandria Occasio Cortez said the same thing two years ago and then pushed the Green New Deal (which was made up of, well made up technologies the U.S was supposed to supply through Green Socialism in her own words).

By the definition of your article, this is gaslighting. Do you agree? I'm happy to provide links there, Magoo.

Scrotox said...

“Well that and his advocacy for discriminating people based on race...”

Hmmm...I think you’ll find JC spent his entire political life campaigning against racism.

Evidence? Hansard.



”...and cosying up to Castro”.

He offered his condolences in 2016 when Castro died.

As did Boris Johnson.

For a long time, the Cubans had some of the best healthcare and education in the world.

It’s possible to accept that they got some things right, without condoning everything that went on there: it’s called a nuanced argument, but positions like that are beyond the abilities of someone with a deficit of neurons to grasp.



“Yes well done, I don't think the UK is run by Nazi's, lol.”

I think you just conceded your point here, chum…

That’s right! Publicly owned infrastructure isn’t the equivalent of Nazism.



“A laughable term”.

One that you just conceded does exist, and that you admit does not equate to fascism.



“That fellow at the last one calling for all the white men to keep their hands down”

Trying to canvass opinion that is more balanced and more reflects the diversity of the makeup of population/ or attendees isn’t really the slippery slope to mass murder is it?

Unless you have a penchant for tin foil hats, that is.



As an aside, and seeing as you throw the term “Nazi” around so loosely, have you ever met any veterans or concentration camp survivors?

By equating the horrors of the Third Reich to democratic demands for socialised housing/healthcare/education and publicly owned vital infrastructure, you are pissing on the memories of the people who fought and laid down their lives against fascism (the majority of veterans who came back from the war demanded those very things!) and belittling the suffering of those who were murdered by it.



You have soiled yourself.

Your extreme ignorance leads me to suspect you are the sort of person who rummages through the leavings of right wing trolls posing as journalists, and digest the most pungent portions to later regurgitate as some kind of “opinion” your proudly proclaim is your own.



Do us all a favour and trundle on back to the Daily Express comments section, where you and your fellow True Blue Farragist simpletons can carry on blaming everything and everyone for the things that are wrong in our society...except yourselves and the cretinous governments you keep voting for, which is actually where the blame lies.



Bella ciao.

Scrotox said...

I've got a perfect example of gaslighting:

It's when an entire field of scientific research is unanimously agreed that all the evidence, collected by thousands of scientists over many decades points strongly toward a given process (like anthropic climate change) taking place, but an individual armed only with truly extraordinary arrogance and a tinfoil hat chooses not to believe them.

Anonymous said...

@Scrotox

Dear me we are being active aren't we? Lol, welcome to the pit. I hope you retain your sanity through this time in your life. Gonna have to be quicker on these replies but:

"He offered his condolences in 2016 when Castro died." Actually his exact words were describing him as a 'paragon of social justice'. He used to visit quiet frequently and go on cycling holidays there.

"As did Boris Johnson." And? Lol. Please don't tell me you've assumed I vote tory? Lol. So obvious

For a long time, the Cubans had some of the best healthcare and education in the world." LOL. Oh Icarus, lest you fly to close to the sun. I'm sure the cuban free press have been very transparent about any misdemeanours made by the cuban authorities here. Y'know, if they existed. It's totalitarian, dude, who do you think takes accountability for those hospitals?

"I think you just conceded your point here, chum…" So you don't think the Tories are fascists? Thomas does.

"That’s right! Publicly owned infrastructure isn’t the equivalent of Nazism." well done, I've actually stated this. The involvement of the state in every way feasible in our daily lives and raced based policies certainly are. Funny how people miss those points.

Anonymous said...

"Trying to canvass opinion that is more balanced and more reflects the diversity of the makeup of population/ or attendees isn’t really the slippery slope to mass murder is it?"
You silly, silly racist. LOL. It is state funded and enacted racism and there are plenty of examples of it starting like this and getting a whole lot worse. Dear lord you really are quiet compromised aren't you? I'd say read more history but I suspect you'll tell me it's written by individuals of a certain persuasion and it doesn't count.

"As an aside, and seeing as you throw the term “Nazi” around so loosely, have you ever met any veterans or concentration camp survivors?" yes, they warned me of individual such as yourself.

"By equating the horrors of the Third Reich to democratic demands for socialised housing/healthcare/education and publicly owned vital infrastructure,@ Nope, I actually stated racist policies and authoritarianism were part and parcel of the package you endorse; like the Nazi's. Man, I hope you don't devolve into hyperbole and run with this fantasy so you can attack a fellows character instead of debating his point ...

"you are pissing on the memories of the people who fought and laid down their lives against fascism (the majority of veterans who came back from the war demanded those very things!)"
Oh. Oh dear. Well it was as we feared lads.

Actually if you look at the polling nationalisation of steel and coal was always very low.

"and belittling the suffering of those who were murdered by it." Nope, you're just upset because I'm calling you out for your fascism lol.

"You have soiled yourself." LOL. No you are, that thing you said.

"Your extreme ignorance leads me to suspect you are the sort of person who rummages through the leavings of right wing trolls posing as journalists, and digest the most pungent portions to later regurgitate as some kind of “opinion” your proudly proclaim is your own."
That's an awful thing to call a survivor of the holocaust. Shame on you.

Anonymous said...

"Do us all a favour and trundle on back to the Daily Express comments section, where you and your fellow True Blue Farragist simpletons can carry on blaming everything and everyone for the things that are wrong in our society...except yourselves and the cretinous governments you keep voting for, which is actually where the blame lies."

Wow.

I'm going to assume at this point that I'm not speaking to someone versed in the history of Socialism being rethought and re-structured by French socialist philosophers in the first half of last century ...

You really hate people who are different to you don't you? The vitriol, hyperbole and assumptions about who I am and what I believe based upon ... what exactly? I don't think the government runs things particularly well? That I think a state that intrudes on every aspect of my life through a racist lenses ... is a bad idea?

I pity you. You're clearly clearly quiet angry and sadly racist and so on, but I honestly don't hold it against you. Let go a bit there dude, you'll do no one but yourself harm.

Also; never voted tory or ukip mate. Just for reference ;)

Anonymous said...

@Scrotox

"It's when an entire field of economic research is unanimously agreed that all the evidence, collected by thousands of economists over many decades points strongly toward a given process (like the benefits of free markets) taking place, but an individual armed only with truly extraordinary arrogance and a tinfoil hat chooses not to believe them."

Read some Bjorn Lomborg you silly fascist.

Anonymous said...

Also that's not actually gaslighting you mentioned, that's literally a dude ignoring science. I'm just saying mate.

Scrotox said...

I am beginning to feel a little sympathy for you now, as you are not really producing cogent statements but merely vomiting disconnected nonsense on to the page.
I have no wish to mock the afflicted.

Scrotox said...

Someone who comes under the influence of partisan propaganda that persuades them to ignore hard scientific evidence is doing so because of gaslighting.

Anonymous said...

@Scrotox

"as you are not really producing cogent statements but merely vomiting disconnected nonsense on to the page."

I copied and pasted one of your own passages, switched academic for economic and then referenced someone directly involved in your original paragraph as well as my modifications. If you're finding your own paragraphs to be that troublesome; that really says a lot more about your capabilities then my own.

Also your insults are a bit second rate; step it up.

Scrotox said...

Quoting me and then just using the word "fascist" and the phrase "like the Nazis" is the ultimate internet cliche.

Anonymous said...

@Scrotox

I've never called you a nazi. You are a fascist tho.

Scrotox said...

Nope.
I'm sarcastic towards trolls.
That's an entirely different thing.
Dictionaries are not hard to come by.
You may even have one already intalled on your phone or computer!

Anonymous said...

@Scrotox

Yup. You are.

Not only do I have a dictionary and Thesaurus to hand via my phone but also: All of your comments to peruse.

You sill racist.

Scrotox said...

"All of your comments to peruse."
Glad I could assist you with expanding your lexicon!

Anonymous said...

@Scrotox

You fucked it bollock boy. Nobody cares.

Cynical Classicist said...

I don't agree with everything you write... but this is well-researched and raises some very good points.

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