(Blitz-invasion?; 06-02; p.5)

Using the institutions of a society as instruments

Another area of manipulation is the instrumental use of generally accepted societal institutions. In modern democratic societies law and the media are associated, even if only to a basic extent, with authority and independence: citoyens might feel grumpy about but in general are glad to have them and set their confidence in them. Beside the fact that such confidence may be disappointed by design, some responsible use it for manipulation.

• Instrumental use of law

One sticks precisely to formal procedures and lawful rules, but at the same time legitimatory or functional aspects of it are not mentioned.
Clauses of a "treaty" e.g. are made in such a way that the adversal "accepting" party may not fulfil them without damaging its status substantially or even giving it up completely. Thus, it is not a treaty in the literal sense between two equal parties, although exactly this impression shall be conjured up.
- Different from this are e.g. resolutions of the United Nations' security council: they oblige or empower the member states to apply the measures defined without giving the right of "cancellation".

Moreover, some responsible try to achieve "storage-decisions", at the same time remaining silent about the possible effect of putting a decision before the process of decision-finding. In other words: Can a parliament decide unbiased, when a government official already has announced a decision with a specified result before an international committee and can a parliament decide already when it does not know yet the then circumstances?

• Selective use of the media

Independent reporters are banned from information or their sources and places while others are chosen and "trained" deliberately. - The trade-off in training consists of teaching "secure" ways of behaviour and successively providing security against the fundamental acceptance of the war acts in question.
Mean censorship does if at all only scarcely happen in modern democratic societies. On the contrary, official reports are provided and presented by one's own public relations professionals. The main aim there is to habituate a civil public to war acts, too. (Cf. for this also: MacArthur, J: Second front. New York 1992.)

 

It should have become clear from the described that it is not intended to sully some people ruling; the focus is instead on the techniques of manipulation and thereby of ruling: everybody in power might feel inclined to use them. To cut short of it, only information about such techniques may help and as consequence informed citoyens.

(End of article)