Beyond Common Sense - LaRouche

Lifton establishes an 8 point check list. In his study,Thought Reform and the Psychology of Totalism: a Study ofBrainwashing in China. Whilst his study refers to China, heargues that the Chinese situation is a paradigm for revolutionsin general.His 8 point “check list” is a good start for analysing activitiesin the Citizens Electoral Councils.BrainwashingLifton has made a study of the techniques used against anumber of individuals held captive by the Communist Party ofChina. They refer to the process of szu-hsiang kai-tsao(ideological remoulding). This consists of two basic elements,confession, the exposure and renunciation of past and present“evil” and then the re-education program, the making of aperson into the Communist image. The technique generally isto apply pressure and to make appeals on the intellectual,emotional and physical level of an individual. The aim is socialcontrol andindividuai’change. (41)The first technique is to gain control of a person’sintellectual and emotional surroundings, this is termed by Lifton,Technique one: Milieu control, a control exerted over humancommunications where people are deprived of a combination ofexternal information and inner reflection. The organisation, inLifton’s case, the Communist Party, makes exclusivist demandson an individual:“he is called upon to make an absolute polarisation of thereal (the prevailing ideology) andthe unreal (everything else). To the extent that he does this, heundergoes a personal closure, which frees him from man’sincessant struggle with the elusive subtleties of truth.” (42)There is no insinuation here that CEC people are physicallyheld captive. But through a combination of pressures,members