How Clean Is Your Brain?

"Brainwashing" is an interesting term. Think about that word for a moment. It is the act of washing your brain. The term originated in China, describing the Communist re-education of the opposing population after they took power. The Chinese introduced this system to captured American and U.N. troops during the Korean War. Prisoners were commonly deprived of sleep, food, water, and social interactions. Once tired, hungry, thirsty, and alone, the captors would then offer relief in exchange for their professed loyalty. To those soldiers that did so, the only thing that mattered was a bed, a meal, a drink, and going back to their fellow prisoners. It did not matter that their captors are the ones starving and isolating them. Their loyalty was just a meal ticket. They did what was necessary to survive.

Another aspect of brainwashing was to place guilt upon the prisoners. The Communists wanted them to feel responsible for the war itself. By controling information, the captors could feed the prisoners whatever lies they pleased. They would blame the prisoners for taking part in a war in which they didn't belong, demanding confessions of war crimes and human rights violations that never happened. They would accuse U.N. troops of terrorizing Korean women and children in the dead of night. They would blame the captives for the poverty and starvation of their people. They would do all this to place a huge burden of guilt upon the POWs.

It is interesting to note that the primary Communist goal of brainwashing was to get opposition to sit down and shut up so they could go about their business of global domination. You see, if your prisoners are broken and brainwashed they are easier to guard. Fewer guards meant more soldiers on the front lines. Upon release, many POWs maintained their loyalty toward their captors. For some, it took years to sort out the manipulation and lies they believed from the truth.

Obviously, to be deprived, blamed, and shamed into submission is the ultimate tyranny over the minds of men. Can you, great reader, think of anyone else who has done or is doing the same thing as the ChiComms? Think about it. Here are some hints: