Reminds me of Naomi Klein's 'Shock Doctrine' book that went into how this worked during the glory days of The War Against Terror. There are additional levers t

Reminds me of Naomi Klein's 'Shock Doctrine' book that went into how this worked during the glory days of The War Against Terror. There are additional levers to be used, mass surveillance makes people not want to talk lest they reveal themselves to be not 100% aligned with the edicts of the regime. Plus if people aren't talking then they aren't discussing ideas, discussion is needed as without it people can end up believing very strange ideas told to them by the mass media or the conspiracy theorists, with both sets of those ideas being oppressive. Fear is the big one though, even the smartest people succumb to it remarkably easily. It is quite funny to watch in a 'lemmings' type of way. But to watch it in a 'lemmings' type of way then you have to be in on it, a sick individual spreading the fear.