SelfDefinition.Org
The Brainwashing Manual
(1955)
L. Ron Hubbard
Chapter II The Constitution of Man as a Political Organism
Man is already a colonial aggregation of cells, and to consider him an individual would be an error. Colonies of cells have gathered together as one organ or another of the body, and then these organs have, themselves, gathered together to form the whole. Thus we see that man himself is already a political organism, even if we do not consider a mass of men.
Sickness could be considered to be a disloyalty to the remaining organisms on the part of one organism. This disloyalty, becoming apparent, brings about a revolt of some part of the anatomy against the remaining whole, and thus we have, in effect, an internal revolution. The heart, becoming disaffected, falls away from close membership and service to the remainder of the organism, and we discover the entire body in all of its activities is disrupted because of the revolutionary activity of the heart. The heart is in revolt because it cannot or will not co-operate with the remainder of the body. If we permit the heart thus to revolt, the kidneys, taking the example of the heart, may in their turn rebel and cease to work for the good of the organism. This rebellion, multiplying to other organs and the glandular system, brings about the death of the "individual". We can see with ease that the revolt is death, that the revolt of any part of the organism results in death. Thus we see that there can be no compromise with rebellion.
Like the "individual" man, the State is a collection of aggregations. The political entities within the State must, all of them, co-operate for the greater good of the State lest the State itself fall asunder and die; for with the disaffection of any single distrust we discover an example set for other districts, and we discover, at length, the entire State falling. This is the danger of revolution.
Look at earth. We see here one entire organism. The organism of Earth is an individual organism. Earth has as its organs the various races and nations of men. Where one of these is permitted to remain disaffected, Earth itself is threatened with death. The threatened rebellion of one country, no matter how small, against the total organism of Earth, would find Earth sick, and the cultural state of man to suffer in consequence. Thus, the putrescent illness of Capitalist States, spreading its pus and bacteria into the healthy countries of the world would not do otherwise than bring about the death of Earth, unless these ill organisms are brought into loyalty and obedience and made to function for the greater good of the world-wide State.
The constitution of Man is so composed that the individual cannot function efficiently without the alignment of each and every part and organ of his anatomy. As the average individual is incapable in an unformed and uncultured state, as witness the barbarians of the jungle, so must be trained into a co-ordination of his organic functions by exercise, education and work toward specific goals. We particularly and specifically note that the individual must be directed from without to accomplish his exercise, education and work. He must be made to realize this, for only then can he be made to function efficiently in the role assigned to him.
The tenets of rugged individualism, personal determinism, self-will, imagination and personal creativeness are alike in the masses antipathetic to the good of the Greater State. These wilful and unaligned forces are no more than illness which will bring about disaffection, disunity, and at length the collapse of the group to which the individual is attached.
The constitution of Man lends itself easily and thoroughly to certain and positive regulation from without of all of its functions, including those of thinkingness, obedience, and loyalty; and these things must be controlled if a greater State is to ensue.
While it may seem desirable to the surgeon to amputate one or another limb or organ in order to save the remainder, it must be pointed out that this expediency is not entirely possible of accomplishment where one considers entire nations. A body deprived of organ can be observed to be lessened in its effectiveness. The world deprived of the workers now enslaved by the insane and nonsensical idiocies of the Capitalists and Monarchs of Earth, would, if removed, create a certain disability in the world-wide State. Just as we see the victor forced to rehabilitate the population of a conquered country at the end of a war, thus any effort to depopulate a disaffected portion of the world might have some consequence. However, let us consider the inroad of virus and bacteria hostile to the organism, as we see that unless we can conquer the germ, the organ or organism which it is attacking will itself suffer.
In any State we have certain individuals who operate in the role of the virus and germ, and these, attacking the population or any group within the population, produce, by their self-willed greed, a sickness in the organ, which then generally spreads to the whole.
The constitution of Man, as an individual body, or the constitution of a State or a portion of the State as a political organism are analogous. It is the mission of Psychopolitics first to align the obedience and goals of the group, and then maintain their alignment by the eradication of the effectiveness of the persons and personalities which might swerve the group toward disaffection. In our own nation, where things are better managed and where reason reigns above all else, it is not difficult to eradicate the self-willed bacteria which might attack one of our political entities. But in the field of conquest, in nations less enlightened, where the Russian State does not yet have power, it is not as feasible to remove the entire self-willed individual. Psychopolitics makes it possible to remove that part of his personality which, in itself, is making havoc with the person's own constitution, as well as with the group with which the person is connected.
If the animal man were permitted to continue undisturbed by counter-revolutionary propaganda, if we were left to work under the well-planned management of the State, we would discover little sickness amongst Man, and we would discover no sickness in the State. But where the individual is troubled by conflicting propaganda, where he is made the effect of revolutionary activities, where he is permitted to think thoughts critical to the State itself, where he is permitted to question those in whose natural charge he falls, we would discover his constitution to suffer. We would discover, from this disaffection, the additional disaffection of his heart and of other portions of his anatomy. So certain is this principle that when one finds a sick individual, could one search deeply enough, he would discover a mis-aligned loyalty and an interrupted obedience to the person's group unit.
There are those who foolishly have embarked upon some spiritual Alice-in-Wonderland voyage into what they call the "subconscious" or the "unconscious" mind, and who, under the guise of "psychotherapy" would seek to make well the disaffection of body organs, but it is to be noted that their results are singularly lacking in success. There is no strength in such an approach. When hypnotism was first invented in Russia it was observed that all that was necessary was to command the unresisting individual to be well in order, many times, to accomplish that fact. The limitation of hypnotism was that many subjects were not susceptible to its uses, and thus hypnotism has had to be improved upon in order to increase the suggestibility of individuals who would not otherwise be reached. Thus, any nation has had the experience of growing well again, as a whole organism, when placing sufficient force in play against a disaffected group. Just as in hypnotism any organ can be commanded into greater loyalty and obedience, so can any political group be commanded into greater loyalty and obedience should sufficient force be employed. However, force often brings about destruction, and it is occasionally not feasible to use broad mass force to accomplish the ends in view. Thus, it is necessary to align the individual against his desire not to conform.
Just as it is a recognized truth that Man must conform to his environment, so it is a recognized truth, and will become more so as the years proceed, that even the body of Man can be commanded into health.
The constitution of Man renders itself peculiarly adapted to re-alignment of loyalties. Where these loyalties are indigestible to the constitution of the individual itself, such loyalties to the 'petite bourgeoisie', to the Capitalist, to anti-Russian ideas, we find the individual body peculiarly susceptible to sickness, and thus we can clearly understand the epidemics, illnesses, mass-neuroses, tumults and confusions of the United States and other capitalist countries. Here we find the worker improperly and incorrectly loyal, and thus we find the worker ill. To save him and establish him correctly and properly upon his goal toward a greater State, it is an overpowering necessity to make it possible for him to grant his loyalties in a correct direction. In that his loyalties are swerved and his obedience cravenly demanded by persons antipathetic to his general good, and in that these persons are few, even in a Capitalist nation, the goal and direction of Psychopolitics is clearly understood. To benefit the worker in such a plight, it is necessary to eradicate, by general propaganda, by other means, and by his own co-operation and self-willedness, the perverted leaders. It is necessary, as well, to indoctrinate the educated strata into the tenets and principles of co-operation with the environment, and thus to insure to the worker less-warped leadership, less-craven doctrine, and more co-operation with the ideas and ideals of the Communist State.
The technologies of Psychopolitics are directed to this end.