Providing fake alternatives is a well-known technology that is used in order to manipulate the opinion of the masses.
When people want to sell you something, whether that be a product, political ideology, a politician, or a political party, they only offer you one other alternative, which provides the impression that only this “black” or this “white” exist, and you are forced to choose between the two of them despite the fact that there are also other options.
One example. Someone comes to your house and wants to sell a vacuum cleaner. This person constantly asks, “Which way is more convenient for you: to pay in cash or by credit card?” It’s almost as if you have already decided that you want to buy the vacuum cleaner, and all that remains is the issue of selling it.
Manipulating society uses the same mechanism. Soviet historians and propagandists in the Stalin era separated the citizens into two categories: one was the happy majority who would establish the communist future, and the other included the enemies and foreign agents who were trying to prevent the unprecedented progress towards a wonderful future. (The official propaganda spread by the current Armenian government is somewhat similar to that).
Read also
From 1995 until the Putin era, there was also another category. It turned out that during the Stalin era, either the executioners of repression or their victims lived in the USSR. It is obvious that both of these divisions are inaccurate. Apart from the enthusiastic collective women and the malicious saboteurs, besides the manuscript righters and those who suffered in gulags, there were other people who lived lives that were very different from those stereotypes.
Modern political technology also makes use of those methods. The Armenian government, in particular, attempts to convince society of the following: our country can either be governed by incompetent amateurs or thieves. This gives people the opportunity to troll, to divert from the topic, and to change the agenda. When you say, “Azerbaijanis have taken up positions a few hundred meters away from settlements in Syunik,” the government’s propaganda machine responds with, “But the 17 political parties!”
When you say, “Our soldiers continue to die and be taken prisoner even after the ceasefire,” the government responds, “But the former regime used to steal from us!” When you ask, “In the end, how many deaths, how many prisoners, and how many missing in action do we have?” they respond with a question, “Who should be the Armenian Prime Minister?”
The issue is not that those technologies are being implemented. Almost all governments across the world are making use of any methods they have in order to stay in power. What’s shocking is that those clear methods have an impact on thousands of people. Most likely, people will wake up when they face shock or a new catastrophe.
Aram Abrahamyan
