In the 16th century pretty much each of the developing European and Asia Minor national entities had the Jews and the Ottomans. Then the Russians had the Jews; the NAZIs had the Jews and the Communists; the Communists had the Capitalist running dogs; India had the Hidden Hand; the Arabs have the Jews; Iran had Iraq and now it has the Jews and the U.S.; Cuba has the U.S.; Venezuela has the U.S.; the United Nations has Israel (the Jews) and the U.S. So, you ask, what are all these relationships? Simply put they are the political contiguities established by ruling entities that represent external and internal threats from which the constituent citizens must be protected and on which standing rulers seek to base their power and longevity.
Notice that I have used the verb “rule” vice “govern” to describe the relationship of the government to the people. Rulers, even those with supposedly democratically elected legislatures, govern pretty much by fiat. They are not to be challenged and if they are those challengers are quickly dealt with using a variety of methods like having them charged with false crimes and imprisoning them; destroying their reputation through the use of false claims; or, in some cases, having them assassinated. The citizens are told these people represent the designs of other countries and/or international organizations plotting to overthrow the government and put a puppet regime in place. In order to distract the citizenry and justify the dictatorial governance the ruler(s) must have a constant threat. To achieve this they select a bogeyman who is responsible for all things evil and project onto that bogeyman blame for whatever goes wrong. And since that bogeyman is a constant threat laws and ordinances must be strictly enforced within the nation to prevent a fifth column from forming, for not all citizens are loyal to the Motherland, Fatherland, Republic, etc.
“We’d like to loosen controls but if we do the external threat will rush in and exert control over us and you won’t like that or possibly the internal threat will take control and you won’t like that either.” That’s what the people hear but they really don’t know what they would or wouldn’t like because they never really have a chance to choose. The Theocrats of Iran must remain in power because, as they explain it, they are the only ones who can protect Iran from being conquered by the United States and the Jews of Israel. In the 1980’s that threat was Saddam Hussein and Iraq. The Iranians have made the demonization of an enemy factual in that they refer to the U.S. as the “Great Satan.” You can’t get anymore demonic than that. In other countries groups of people were demonized and depicted with horns, hooked noses and sometimes tails with arrowhead like ends protruded from beneath their long black coats. The message was ‘be afraid of these people for they are agents of the devil and seek to do you harm.’ The answer then was that the ruler would protect you from these evildoers but you must do as you are told or you will be in league with these instruments of iniquity.
In Tsarist Russia it was the internal threat of the Jews, not just as a religion but as representatives of anti-monarchy, pro communist groups. In NAZI Germany where, alas, prominent Communists were, in fact Jewish, like in Russia it was easy to project onto all Jews the conspiracy of the Communists as well as propaganda material like the “Protocols of the Elders of Zion” which was supposed to be a blueprint for Jewish world domination and to this day is still quoted by anti-semites in the U.N. and elsewhere. In fact the “Protocols” were a 1901 fabrication by agents of the Russian Secret Police used to justify pograms against Jews throughout all Russia. Think of it as Kristallnacht lite.
In today’s Middle East, no, make that most of the world, the Jews still represent an international threat much greater than that of Islamic Fundamentalism, or Russian and Chinese political and economic hegemony. If I had a quarter (that’s the one with George Washington’s picture on it) for every time I’ve had otherwise intelligent people fail to understand the difference between a national state with elected representatives and a religious oligarchy I’d be able to afford a dinner at the Four Seasons. But trying to explain the difference between the national state of Israel and Judaism almost always falls upon deaf ears.
In the 1960’s through the 1980’s when the trains didn’t run on time or the electricity failed in India blame was always given to the “Hidden Hand” a set of otherwise unidentified external actors who didn’t want the government of India to succeed. Unidentified but certainly not un-implied, i.e. Pakistan, the United States, China, whomever had most recently done something considered “anti-Indian.”
I could detail other examples like Cuba, Venezuela, the Palestinian Territories, Russia in the 20th century, et cetera but you get the picture. To rule you must have a demonized adversary that is a threat to the country, the government and the people. You must convince the population that this threat is real and the only way to resist it is to do what they are told. The stories about how this enemy operates are emotional and those who say, “wait a minute, I don’t recall that ever happening” or “hang on this is all well and good but that simply isn’t logical” will be destroyed whether through ad hominem attacks or legal maneuverings of agents of the government. Thus, it is with emotion rulers control the population.
Consider current and recent events in American history and ask yourself the questions: have we seen and heard the government identify an ongoing threat inimical to the American way of life? A group trying to assert supremacy perhaps? Have elements of the government chosen a target upon which blame can be directed? Have they chosen a group that is the “major” threat to our Republican way of life? Are they in the process of imposing strictures upon the general public that are needed to protect the public from the threat of this group and/or individual?
Put your emotions aside, choose logic. Demand that the media report honestly and stop inserting emotional adjectives and moralizing comments into their reportage. Ask why is this necessary, where is the proof, and most importantly why don’t you trust us to make our own decisions? Stop allowing yourself to be moved by the stories you hear and seek the facts behind those stories. You can control yourself and if sufficient of us do control ourselves then we can begin to influence the control of events.
History tells us that if members of the government are not accepting responsibility for their actions but claim that such actions are necessary by directing blame onto internal or external threats and asserting the necessity of protecting us from our fellow citizens or some external threat then we are being “ruled” not “governed” by elected representatives who through these actions have taken on the mantle of autocrats.
I agree with what you have written. I could not have said it nearly so well.