\u201cGaslighting\u201d is psychological manipulation which seeks to sow seeds of doubt, making someone question their own memory, perception and sanity. Using constant denial, misdirection, contradiction and lying, gaslighting destabilizes the victim and delegitimizes their beliefs.<\/p>\n
The term originates in the 1938 stage play Gaslight. In it, a husband attempts to convince his wife that she\u2019s insane by manipulating small elements of their environment and, when she notices, insisting she\u2019s mistaken, incorrect, or delusional. The title alludes to the abusive husband slowly dimming the gas lights in their home, pretending nothing has changed, causing his wife to doubt her own perceptions.<\/p>\n
We\u2019re now asked daily to ignore what\u2019s in front of us: to forget what we read, to pretend the interview on television that we watched didn\u2019t really happen. The government expects us to ignore what we\u2019ve seen and heard with our own eyes and ears, simply because they say that we did not.<\/p>\n
Constant propaganda apparently isn\u2019t enough, and gaslighting is now firmly cemented in current newspeak. We\u2019re second-guessing ourselves because we\u2019re told to no longer trust what we hear and see. We have become the wife from the play, wondering if something really did, in fact, happen? Or\u2026 are we just going crazy? Didn\u2019t we just see it on television or read it in the paper? How can it be true when they just told us it wasn\u2019t? Or vice-versa?<\/p>\n
The two sides of the news media have utterly destroyed each others\u2019 credibility in their respective viewers\u2019 eyes, all with the current administration\u2019s assistance and blessing, and certainly in keeping with the bad intentions of our most dangerous adversaries. Disinformation, misdirection and projection are far beyond out of control, and the unfortunate casualty is the truth, since there can only be one possible version of it. The extent of damage to the credibility of of the United States cannot be understated.<\/p>\n
Ben Franklin, when asked if we were a republic or a monarchy, responded \u201cA Republic\u2026 if you can keep it.\u201d No truer words ever spoken, or more pertinent today.<\/p>\n
Dana Anderson,
New Castle<\/p>\n