An Examination of Loyalties
(EN: This book is somewhat controversial - not merely because of its topic, but because of its origin. It is presented as a synthesis of various Soviet documents on the practice of brainwashing, but may in fact be a fabrication to provoke outrage and opposition to the communist party and due to its suspicious origin is considered that it may be a hoax or a work of science fiction. I've read it, and preserved notes, as it seems interesting and plausible, in spite of its dubious validity and origin.)
Loyalty is the alignment of interests. In general, when a person demands loyalty, he are expecting other people to prioritize his personal interests above their own. When an institution demands loyalty, it is likewise.
In general, people are loyal to one another when they have common interests that they mean to pursue through collaborative action. Otherwise, loyalty is nothing more than a commercial exchange - an agreement to serve someone else's interests in exchange for their serving one's own interests (though the reciprocating service may have taken place in the past or may be proposed to take place in future).
Patriotism is a form of loyalty directed to the state. This occurs when the citizen perceives himself to be part of the state, such that his personal welfare is aligned to the welfare of the collective. Where a person is not patriotic, it is because he perceives himself to be in a state of conflict with the state. And again, psychopolitics can be leveraged to rectify his perception.
Medical metaphors are then used to justify the action of the state against the citizens who are not patriotic: the body must be cut in order to be healed, or electric shocks can regain control over "a rebellious body organ" and bring it back into harmony with the rest of the system.
To create loyalty, one must eradicate existing loyalties. This can be done by rational means - if you can demonstrate how a person's loyalties are misplaced, and that the party to whom they are loyal is not reciprocating their loyalty (or is even damaging to them), then the reason for their attachment is weakened. If you can then propose greater personal benefits by giving loyalty to another party, which will reciprocate, then their loyalty will be transferred.
In more drastic situations, it becomes necessary to simply destroy the thing to which they are loyal, rendering it unavailable to provide the benefits they expect of it, such that in order to achieve their personal goals they must seek out a new institution to which to bestow their loyalty.
It is therefore important for the state to control the education of citizens: to ensure that the first loyalties they form are to the state itself rather than any other organization that may compete for the loyalty of the people. If their loyalties are aligned to the state in the first place, there will be no existing loyalties that must be overcome.
More medical metaphors: the severity of a treatment is justified by the severity of the disease. Where there is an immediate threat to the survival of the patient, invasive procedures may be employed. When there is not an immediate threat, then the treatment should be more gentle and therapeutic.
Hence a person whose actions do no harm to society (other than consuming resources that may have rendered a benefit), it is a far less serious matter than when their past actions have done harm (the damage has been done and corrective action will not undo it), and even that is far less serious then when their present or proposed actions have the potential to do harm (the damage can be prevented by swift action).
To change loyalties, begin by determining where a person's loyalties currently lie. The author asserts this is simple in capitalistic economies because loyalty is given to an employer, and that loyalty tends to be only as strong as their paycheck - anyone who can offer them a better deal can win them over, but even then their loyalty is to their paycheck and not to the party who offers it. In order to convert them to communists, their loyalty must be transferred from the benefits they receive to the party that provides them with those benefits.
Transferring loyalty is a delicate matter to be handled by a very skilled operator. If the individual feels that they are being unduly pressured, they will become suspicious and defensive, to the degree that even physical encouragements (drugs, torture, and other means of influence) meet with superficial acceptance but deep-seated resentment that will lead them to seek an opportunity to refuse and resist.
It's also mentioned that social pressure can be more effective than a financial reward: if a subject is unmarried, sex can be used to win his loyalty. If he is married and has a family, converting his wife and children will cause domestic strife, and he will be pressured by his own family into compliance. His peers in the community can also be influential.
There is a lengthy passage about applying "the stigma of insanity" to get a prospect to question his own judgment. This is also useful in the case that the prospect must be destroyed - as a person who is regarded as insane exists in a disgraced state. Others will regard him as insane rather than rational, his resistance will not inspire followers, and his disappearance will not arouse suspicious. When a person is surrounded by those who conform to a pronounced ideology, they will be uncertain if even their own reluctance is justified and suspect that there is something wrong with their own mind.
The ideal way to dispose of an unconvertible prospect is to arrange for them to commit suicide, or to dispose of them in a manner that suggests that they had done so. Suicide is universally reviled and those who commit this act are never seen as martyrs, but rather as pathetic and wrong-minded. This is particularly important when dealing with political figures and others who have influence.
The concept of insanity is central to psychopolitics - the goal is to get a prospect to believe that acceptance of the party's ideology is sanity and its rejection is insanity. This approach is extremely effective in getting individuals to voluntarily and wholeheartedly (whole-mindedly) embrace the ideology, rather than merely acting in a way that superficially confirms while retaining doubts and resentment. They conform because it is normal to do so, and encourage others toward the adopt these cultural norm as well.
A similar tactic may be applied to entire groups of people, if their resistance is portrayed as destructive to society. If the group can be portrayed negatively, such that their reputation is damaged, they lose their power to attract followers or convince others that their cause is just and that their resistance should be respected, or even tolerated. The public will dismiss them, and even demand government intervention to deal with a dangerous group.
An assault against a nation or capitalist culture cannot hope to achieve fast and easy victory, but must be undertaken by slow and small steps. Creating discontent among workers about their compensation, horror at phenomena such as child labor, distrust of the wealthy and powerful, contempt for corporations, and the like are small steps on a road to the conversion of a culture to communistic values. When people lose their patriotism for their nation and adopt the belief that there is something fundamentally wrong with their culture, they are in a mental condition where they are open to alternatives.
A psychopolitcal operative can in that way pose as a helpful friend or trusted advisor. If they can propose communist values as a remedy to social problems, whether to an individual or to a society, he is sowing the seeds for conversion. To counsel parents in dealing with unruly children, assist a poor person with their credit problems, or lead a nonprofit organization to remedy a social issue are all ways of being helpful to people and providing positive and encouraging experiences with party values.
Special attention should be given to the youth of a nation. Particularly in capitalistic nations, where they are given the opportunity to choose their own path in life, many feel lost and abandoned. While their outward behavior seems rebellious toward authorities that attempt to control them, it is often the symptom of authority that demands they accomplish certain goals (such as choosing a career) but fails to provide them with sufficient direction to achieve them. A clear path to success is highly attractive. As such, working with troubled youth is a very promising opportunity to shape the minds of the next generation of leaders in a society.