This appeared on Larken Rose's e-mail list on November 8, 2004:
Dear Subscriber,
The way propaganda and psychological warfare work fascinate me. The way people are controlled, NOT by violence, nor by evidence and logic, but by misinformation, is really disturbing. In war, if you can convince the enemy army that they are doomed, and that they are the bad guys, they will almost definitely lose. This type of "mind control" is nothing new, and every significant military in the last 10,000 years has used it.
It's no secret that the IRS has its own propaganda points that it harps on constantly (e.g. resistance is futile, the government always wins, people who don't pay are nasty, unAmerican scofflaws, who always end up in jail, and deserve it). They can't rationally discuss what their own law books say, or explain their own position, but they never run out of scare tactics and vilification techniques to use. The question is, do their sleezy tactics work on YOU?
Governments like to infiltrate groups that they don't like (anti-war groups, drug legalization organizations, etc.), and then intentionally do things to cause strife, in-fighting, etc. They will also do things to change what the PUBLIC thinks about the group, by starting rumors, trying to make such groups look "extreme," etc.
Frankly, I think many in the "tax honesty" movement would do a good job vilifying and discrediting THEMSELVES without any help from government infiltrators. At the moment, I don't know of anyone that I would point a finger at, and say "he's a federal spy!" (I know some people like to do that at anyone who doesn't agree with their argument-du-jour, and I've even been on the receiving end of a few such accusations.) To tell the truth, if there are infiltrators in the "movement," I don't really care much. This is because the people who rely on evidence and logic, the people who WILL end this fraud, are not easily swayed by misinformation, whether on purpose or by accident.
If I were an evil, dishonest slimebag in charge of the IRS, seeing the truth escaping from its cage, I would start spreading lots of FALSE theories, in the hopes of either confusing people or setting people up for a fall. For example, a government "plant" who preaches some theory, and then turns around and says he was LYING, is a marvellous way to damage the "movement" in the eyes of the public.
One interesting misinformation tactic is to spread false ideas that make your side look BAD. When they are exposed as false, you look better than you did BEFORE the accusation, and your opponents look like accusatory liars. (Remember that "rumor" that Clinton had fathered an illegitimate child, that turned out to be false? I'd bet money that it was PRO-Clinton forces who started it, not anti-Clinton.)
Another technique is to use a "plant" PRETENDING to be on the "movement's" side, who bashes the truth, while seeming to be concerned, honest, and only looking out for the people. (Having the IRS call the truth "frivolous" is one thing, but to have someone who LOOKS like he is anti-IRS bashing the truth is more effective.)
This is why I can't understate the importance of making the truth YOUR OWN. Finding what is true doesn't require emotions, personalities, groups, cliques, political arrangements, alliances, and agendas. If you have evidence and reason, nothing else matters.
The feds have a LOT of power to lose from the exposure of the fraud.
Don't think they wouldn't try some dirty tricks to hide the truth. And unless YOU take the time to grasp the evidence and logic for yourself, you will forever be susceptible to propaganda. The slicker and more "compelling" something sounds, the more you must confirm, without emotion or bias, the FACTS and the LOGIC behind it. As some bonehead (me) once said, "Make the truth your own, because if you don't, someone will make your truth for you, and that truth will almost certainly be a lie."
Sincerely,
Larken Rose
larken@taxableincome.net
http://www.861.info
http://www.theft-by-deception.com
P.S. Past e-mails to this list can be found at: http://www.3rdear.com/cgi-bin/ubb/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=forum;f=16
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