Paranoid Politics

Orator and demagogue Joseph Goebbels, the propaganda minister of Adolf Hitler’s Third Reich regime, believed that lies that are maintained and repeated continuously would become established as fact for those with petty minds who are too lazy to think for themselves. And even the liars come to believe their own lies. Goebbels also said that to control the masses easily, we needed only to create fear. Public support will be gained if, afterwards, we project ourselves as strong leaders who can provide protection.

A contemporary example of this is the style of Republican Party candidate Donald Trump, who surprisingly won as the 45th President of the United States. His victory was due to his success on the campaign trail in creating, accommodating, and utilizing the public’s fears of illegal immigrants, "Islamic" terrorists, free trade, and the loss of jobs caused by cheap products from China.

Trump then promised to settle the problems in simple ways, by driving out 11 million illegal immigrants, prohibiting Muslims from entering America, and forcing China to abide by American demands to “Make America Great Again”.