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You're right, in a way, to call it brainwashing. But seen from another perspective, people living under authoritarian regimes simply think practically. They are
by akolbe 4y ago
You're right, in a way, to call it brainwashing. But seen from another perspective, people living under authoritarian regimes simply think practically. They are aware of the acute danger to themselves and their families – all the more so as they can't just up sticks and go to live in San Francisco if they don't like it any more. The freedom of speech that only exists elsewhere might just as well not exist, and they're often tied to their country. One particularly discouraging aspect of these sentences is that they often include a long travel ban, to start upon release from prison.
For refugees I'd guess it takes a long time for them to feel safe and for the established patterns of thought to "thaw".
- NikolaNovak 4y agoWhen I was a kid, and pestering e.g. My dad where was mom (who might be shopping or in Washroom or whatever :), sometimes in exasperation he'd reply "she in California". It was the functional equivalent of dark side of moon, or even Narnia - place you've heard of but might well not exist. 20 years later, in Canada, my job sent me to California for training. When I heard, surprisingly to myself, I hyperventilated and got an asthma attack - my adult Canadian self and the 6 year old from somewhere else colliding in their expectations and worldview reality. Which is to say that I think you have a profound point in that somebody may be "aware" on intellectual level of different places, cultures, laws etc; and it still not feel very real or be at all relevant on practical level.