Hugo wrote: > Manchurian candidate styule brain-washing yes, > but general group conformity can make a True Believer > out of most. People like to fit in and they sooner they > pick up the lingo the better. I heard many people say > they cringed at using terms like Nature Support when > they first moved into academies but they soon got the > hang of it. The more isloated you are from old friends > and "normal" society the quicker it will happen. > > If I was classifying NRMs I would put the TMO down as > cult-lite: crazy but happy, though rather expensive. One has to stand back and take a look at society and how much "predictive programming" goes on. There is definitely quite a bit more these days than there was 30 years ago. Even 20 years ago people might cry "foul" at some TV ads that were a little pushy or attempted such programming. Nowadays it is like a scene out of some science fiction movie. They present to folks in both the ads and in the shows how you are supposed to act and buy. This washes over the 20% of us who actually think and maybe even giggle at some of their attempts. The most effective way to counteract them is to mock them through satire.
The problem comes when I talk to someone who has totally bought "the lie" and don't know where or even if you want to attempt to deprogram them. They might even become agitated or violent as a result. I was sitting the other day at Starbucks chatting with a former Starbucks employee who now works at a gun shop. Another guy sitting nearby jumped into our conversation. I noted that his comments were rather right leaning and I figured he didn't know that the kid from the gun shop is actually fairly liberal. It was actually kind of funny to tread lightly around some subjects. Yesterday I mentioned the BBC 1980 "Brave New World" which can be found on Google (both US and UK): http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-3536993421073315692 It is startling to see how close we've come to the "Brave New World." Think about how many store clerks these days actually behave like the "Gammas" in the show.
