Thought Projects
Strategies
What are some examples of these strategies in the current administration?
Controlled Opposition: Controlled opposition is a strategy where an authority or power base secretly controls, influences, or leads the very movements meant to oppose it. By managing the opposition, the ruling entity creates an illusion of dissent while neutralizing real threats, preventing structural change, and steering public frustration into safe, ineffective outlets
Manufactured Consent: the theory that corporate-owned mass media manipulates public opinion to support elite political and economic agendas. It argues that news media acts as a propaganda machine, using selective coverage, framing, and filtering to make the public “consent” to policies
Crisis Leverage Politics: the strategic use of high-stakes situations, such as financial crashes or pandemics, by political actors to reframe events, expand executive power, and enact structural policy changes that might be impossible during normal times. It involves turning crises into opportunities for political transformation, agenda-setting, and consolidating control.
Problem Reaction Solution Dynamics: Problem-Reaction-Solution (PRS) is a manipulation technique, often described as “order out of chaos,” where a deliberate problem is created or exploited to trigger a specific public reaction. This reaction creates a demand for action, allowing authorities to implement a pre-planned solution, usually involving increased control or policy changes
Fallacies
What are some examples of these arguments from supporters of the administration?
Illusory Truth Effect: the tendency for any statement that is repeated frequently – whether it is factually true or not, whether it is even plausible or not – to acquire the ring of truth. Psychology Today
Purposeful Obfuscation: the deliberate act of making communication, data, or information unclear, confusing, or intentionally complex to hide the truth, mislead others, or hinder understanding. It involves using jargon, ambiguity, or “Fedspeak” to obscure meaning. In computing, it transforms code to be unreadable to humans while maintaining functionality.
False Dilemma: (a.k.a. false dichotomy, either-or fallacy) a manipulative tactic to coerce a choice by making the alternative seem morally or practically unacceptable, framing it as a personal failing rather than a logical necessity. Breakdown: (1) present only two options and imply that only one of two extreme possibilities exist (2) present one of the options as the only good path (3) label or frame the alternative as bad, flawed or wrong. Example: You’re either with us, or you’re against us.
Whataboutisms: a diversionary tactic that attempts to discredit an opponent’s position by highlighting their hypocrisy or the wrongdoing of another party, typically starting with the phrase “what about…”. It falsely suggests that since no one is completely blameless, all criticism is hypocritical and can be dismissed. The goal is not to have a constructive debate, but to muddy the waters.
Ad Hominem: the debate tactic of invalidating someone’s argument because they cannot draw something from memory is a form of an ad hominem fallacy. The essence of this tactic is to attack the person, rather than the substance of their argument. Attack on character/ability: The tactic shifts the focus away from the topic and onto a personal trait—the opponent’s inability to draw from memory. This artistic or memory-retrieval skill has no bearing on the validity of their actual argument. False relevance: It creates a false sense of relevance by implying that a person’s lack of a specific, irrelevant skill (drawing) proves their argument is weak. For example, a person does not need to be able to draw a perfect map of a country to be correct about its political history. Undermining credibility: The goal is to undermine the opponent’s overall credibility and distract the audience from the actual points being debated. By mocking their artistic skills, the attacker frames them as generally incompetent, hoping that the audience will transfer that judgment to their position in the debate.
Gish Galloping: a deceptive and unethical maneuver that relies on presenting so many arguments in such a short time that the opponent cannot possibly respond to them all; speaking quickly to overwhelm an opponent and avoid counterargument.
Red Herring: to divert from the topic for distraction. It involves introducing an irrelevant or misleading argument to shift attention away from the main issue, effectively creating a distraction or smokescreen to confuse or mislead the audience. The new information is usually attention-grabbing or emotionally charged. In a debate, they will pivot to a controversial issue to rally their base and change the subject.