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The PERSONAL Wars of Today
by jude Wednesday, Aug 21 2019, 10:36pm
international / prose / post

Most people continue to labour under the misapprehension that modern wars are fought between opposing military and/or organised fighting groups. These wars are seen clearly by most; however, far more insidious, devastating and largely invisible wars are fought on people and those wars target individuals, YOU, me, everyone. These wars that shape opinion, alienate and divide, are fought in the media, particularly the 'digital media' using sophisticated weaponry in the form of algorithms that shape and modify thought and behaviour to very dangerous effect, as once accomplished/CONQUERED, the target (person) becomes thoroughly enslaved though always imagining they are free, could you think of another more insidious and damaging type of warfare today? I doubt it.

I recall a now dated book written by William Sargant, “Battle for the Mind ..,” as it was in that era that the first emergence was detected of the now pervasive war against us all; indeed, States have targeted populations in this most devastating and largely invisible war.

Unaware people today dance to a tune orchestrated by nefarious “perception managers” working for ruling elites/States though the targeted rarely question their thoughts and behaviours shaped by scripted discourses via the mass media and the insidious algorithms in the digital world. Indeed, humans are a social species and seek approval and belonging, therefore they are easily managed via 'likes and dislikes' in the 'social media,' YET Facebook has been exposed for secretly manipulating these fake approvals/disapprovals for its own purposes, the 'Cambridge Analytica' scandal is evidence of that fact and the deliberate shaping of users' opinions via human weaknesses. Which reality serves to illustrate the nefarious intentions of digital social media and the fact that it is a very poor substitute for REAL human interaction and real friends that support through thick and thin.

Nevertheless, people remain enslaved by these nefarious technologies and the overt and blatant shaping of 'news' in the elite owned mass media, which sings its propaganda almost in chorus today.

This real battle, as Sargant defined in his book, is indeed for the 'hearts and MINDS' of subjects/victims in today's society and the weapons at the disposal of these forces are far more sophisticated and effective today than in Sargant's time; however, the principles remain the same, CONVERT/ENSLAVE and EXPLOIT.

Everyone in any society today that is exposed to digital technologies should indeed familiarise themselves with the war being waged on them 24/7 if they wish to be free of these sordid influences, which results in increased awareness that makes these weapons more identifiable as, Weapons of Social Destruction, (WSD).