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Strategies to perpetuate conflict for personal gain

In any ongoing conflict involving significant numbers of people, there are individuals and groups whose power and influence derives from the very _existence_ of the conflict, and/or from repeatedly pressing buttons related to the values, beliefs, concerns, and fears of certain communities. Such people have a vested interest in ensuring that the conflict continues, and in ways conducive to allowing simple messaging that provokes strong emotions, but not complex or critical thought.

Common strategies in this regard include:

Representing the The Other Side as a homogeneous unjust/evil mass, with no internal diversity and no reasonable and/or valid reasons for their concerns, perspectives, and behaviours; all such things are to be dismissed or ignored a priori.

Providing significantly oversimplified narratives that neatly fit in with certain people's values and beliefs, ensuring that that those narratives don't at all go against the biases of those values and beliefs; the narratives should instead make those people feel confident that they're on the side of Truth And Justice.

Intentionally omitting and/or refusing to acknowledge information that might make the perspectives and behaviours of The Other Side potentially understandable (regardless of the extent to which they might or might not necessarily be _justifiable_).

Mocking or attacking anyone trying to explore the complexities of the conflict, e.g. representing them as at best naïve, and at worst fifth columnists who are Giving Aid And Succour To The Enemy.

Asserting that listening to, and understanding, the various perspectives and experiences described by The Other Side describing is basically equivalent to endorsing Them.

If more than one side of the conflict has influential people engaging in these sorts of strategies, these people end up _boosting the influence and power of their equivalents on the other sides_, via mutual reinforcement. “They ignore what we've been through, and our suffering! They're uncaring, have no empathy, and can't be reasoned with! They can only be dealt with through the application of force!”

At the age of 50, i've seen this stuff over and over and over again: from conflicts i'm directly involved with, to conflicts i'm only indirectly involved with, to conflicts i don't have any stake in. And it's my experiences and observations in this regard that have led me to make this comment on my “Short thoughts” page:

i refuse to erase or misrepresent the perspectives that aren't my own. i strongly feel that erasing or misrepresenting others will not resolve conflict in the long term - that, on the contrary, it's more likely to exacerbate it. If you find me animatedly talking about something i feel has been erased or misrepresented, you can not assume i am partisan of “that side” - i might be doing so out of frustration with what i feel are the unethical tactics and behaviours of “my side”.

-- “Short thoughts”

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🏷 politics,psychology,sociology

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