Is it plausible to claim that the only reason why people pay taxes is because they’d been put thorough brainwashing to believe how that is the only way for the nation to have sanitation, health care, school system and everything else that makes our contemporary lives?
The fact is: none of it is paid with taxpayers’ money. It’s privately invested, one way or another, for the profit. Even when a state or the county “invests” in some new bridge or a new school, that money comes from the bank loan.
So where does all that taxpayer’s money end up? Well, they have to come up with the money to pay the interests, right?
But you already know this. Everyone does.
So why on Earth are we still paying taxes?
When you take the suspect into the interrogation room and tactically place two obviously experienced detectives (one on the opposite side of the desk from the suspect and the other behind the suspect’s back), he instinctively wants to confess the crime.
That’s why we are paying taxes and complying with thousands of mostly annoying rules and regulations. We are simply afraid of the potential consequences if we break the law.
Our brains are tuned to follow the directives coming from the authorities.
But why is our suspect so quick to confess?
Because the detectives exposed him to rather unpleasant and threatening environment – brainwashing him. His, otherwise, strong belief system has suddenly been challenged and influenced.
When that happens, the brain stops the release of the norepinephrine, the one chemical responsible for keeping our central beliefs intact. All of the sudden, right cerebral hemisphere has an access to the left one and subsequently to all those previously protected memory blocks that contain central belief system.
The only role of the right hemisphere is to keep challenging the left one. When your beliefs are strong, and you feel safe and sound, in the environment that best fits you, nothing will go through because norepinephrine is blocking the door. But once your brain recognizes the threat or the environment in which your current belief system presents potential risk for your survival, it will immediately block the hormone and allow access.
Why?
So your behaviour might be adjusted to fit perfectly within that new environment.
In the end, your brain is interested in only one thing and that’s keeping you alive, using minimum resources.
For example, how loud are you about your political beliefs when surrounded by the aggressive opposition? How likely it is for you to stand in the middle of the opposing group of fans and cheer loudly for your team?
We call that “pragmatism.” You lay low until circumstances change in your favor.
But how do you brainwash someone’s brain?
You isolate that person from the environment in which he or she feels safe and sound. Then, you start bombarding the brain with information that are in a complete contrast to that person’s central belief system.
Take a Christian man with a strong, fundamental belief in Biblical dogma and throw him in the middle of the radical Islam environment. Also, make him aware of the fact that he’ll remain there for a long time.
Without any effort from the opposing party, his own brain will immediately start adaptation process. It won’t be long before he takes on reading the Koran and learning the customs and practices of the religion he once literally hated.
That’s why undercover agents need to stay in regular, close contact with their bases. Otherwise, there is a strong possibility that they will turn sides.
But if the leader of the radical group wants to convert the Christian in short notice, he will deploy one other measure – the one that makes you to pay taxes.
The leader will combine two methods:
- Induced sense of fear through physical and psychological torture
- Information feed overdose
That’s all he needs to crack-open the Christian’s head and lay the foundations of the new belief system.
The first method will force the brain to consider adaptation to new circumstances to eliminate the threat. Once that happens, brain needs new information around which it will build an entirely new central belief system.
However, if it’s force-fed, it will only last until the person remains isolated from everything that doesn’t comply (resonate) with that new belief system. That’s why dictators eventually found themselves on the gallows, surrounded by all of those men, women and children whose brains they’ve been washing for years with paroles, billboards, chants, sculptures, content marketing and brute force.
How can you potentially benefit from this knowledge?
In two ways. One, you can use it on yourself. Two, you can use it as a neat marketing tool.
Number one is easy. You just keep exposing your brain to different kind of information.
For example, deep down you know how monetary-market system is designed to allow every person on this planet to make millions. Only, there is a problem. You find it extremely hard to take $50 out of $100 you made last week and invest it in something.
Why?
Because your central belief system perceives money as the prize for the hard work. Naturally, no one wants to let go of the prize.
But it isn’t the prize. It’s a tool. And now you only need to learn how that tool is used in the most efficient way. To do that, you’ll need to keep exposing your brain to information that are in contradiction to what you currently believe.
Number 2 can be tricky because it takes time to sell the fog to a large group of people. It can be done, but it requires resources and devotion to the cause.
For instance, take any political party. What they do to attract the members so the party’s leaders could live of the membership and sponsors?
Yes, make no mistake; it’s a business where taglines, claims and paroles are products designed to target a specific demographics.
They identify the part of the general population; make deep behavioral analyses (all those surveys you’ve been bombarded with), and then design the content marketing strategy. Say, the speech one of them will give to the people next Saturday at the city’s square.
Depending on how well they managed to manipulate with the real data, they can become increasingly popular or quickly forgotten. In other words, their success relies solely on their ability to brainwash sufficient number of people.
In their carefully developed speech — which is nothing but the pitch — they will relentlessly emphasize the problems that may or may not exist to create an environment of fear and mistrust. Then, they just keep bombarding people’s brains with irrational promises.
It’s our western folklore for decades now. Try to play honest and you’ll lose the elections.
You can do exactly the same thing for test purposes. For example, you can start blogging about current politics in your area. If you are witty and rather good in human behavioral science, you’ll start gathering followers in no time.
In the essence, you won’t be doing anything different from all those parties you’ll be raging against.
The bottom line is that by understanding the fundamental mechanism behind central belief systems and safety protocols, you can tip the scale in your favor in almost any situation. You emphasize the problem, build up on it, create the atmosphere of fear and mistrust, and the brain that stands in front of you is wide open for your direct influence.
In fact, here’s an idea. You can use this common brainwashing strategy to earn quick promotion at your current job.
Best real-life example? They call it The Biggest Scam Ever.
