this is how authoritarian regimes and cults work; they make you do and say ridiculous things as a shibboleth. this serves multiple purposes: - alienates you fr

this is how authoritarian regimes and cults work; they make you do and say ridiculous things as a shibboleth. this serves multiple purposes: - alienates you from outsiders - costly signal of in-group membership - breaks down your sense of self-worth - creates a false group consensus evergreen dalrymple quote: >the purpose of communist propaganda was not to persuade or convince, not to inform, but to humiliate; and therefore, the less it corresponded to reality the better. When people are forced to remain silent when they are being told the most obvious lies, or even worse when they are forced to repeat the lies themselves, they lose once and for all their sense of probity. To assent to obvious lies is in some small way to become evil oneself. One's standing to resist anything is thus eroded, and even destroyed. A society of emasculated liars is easy to control. this isn't just limited to communism, it's a pathological feature of many groups. your embarrassment is a feature not a bug.