What if Brainwashing became more common?

I reading the 'Rascist Battlestar Galactica' thread and I got thinking about what if brainwashing improved too such an extent that certain thoughts about subjects are as programmed in as reflex actions or the need to breath.

What if after Korea the ideas of Chinese brainwashing became more prevalant in schools of thought/military circles/governments around the world?

The Chinese broke down captured american soldiers until they became puppets of the chinese and would give their fighting for them in the Korean war.
Dictators like Hitler had made people too afraid too doing anything that might be considered treacherous or even slightly odd.
The ww2 japanese had been able too create a mindset that meant a good deal of even civilian population would give their lives to do whatever their emprarer commanded.
All soceities/nations have used this mindset too varying degrees of success when at war or crises.
Brainwashing didn't exactly die out in democratic nations either.
The U.S during the cold war invented various drugs. One LSD, (yes the US army did invent acid) was meant to be used to poison enemy soldiers/opposing populations so they lost all will too fight.
Another U.S drug stopped all emotions in the subject for a few days. It was meant to be used on soldiers too mean they didn't have feelings of sorrow and sympathy for the people they were fighting. It wasn't used only because it actually limited combat effectiveness, e.g soldiers didn't care if their best friend just got shot and also didn't hate/be angry at the enemy.
The method that did work was some pschologist came into change the combat exercises. The result is now that nearly all trained soldiers can shoot at an enemy without feeling hesitation at the moment but only emotions about it afterwards.

So what if outright brainwashing became more common? Maybe instead of Kruschev a stalinist succesor is found.
The purges continue and the development of tech that controls what the population thinks is more common. In OTL the Soviet Union ended up being full of very cynical people.
With more research into Brainwashing smaller third-world dictatorships take it up and are more succesful in the short term.
The U.S/democratic nations wouldn't go for outright brainwashing but is more restrictive of the general thoughts of its armies/population. Not restrictive of free speech but say a nutcase religious group, is illegalised due too small breakings of laws, council planning etc than the gov. waiting till they do something drastic.
What would be the consequences, Soviet Union survives longer as North Korean type state but is less technollogically advanced (lesss creative people).
Less democratic nations in third-world? Democratic nations less liberal?
 
Brainwashing is already widespread. It is used less in democratic nations because soldiers have more rights to refuse it. Even so, there are subtle and not-so-subtle ways by which the military and the intelligence services utilize it. The problem is that it is not uniformly effective. Some people are very strong willed and will not change their personality under any circumstances. The drugs that exist to further brainwashing tend to be either poorly effective, or be effective only short term, or have strange, unpredictable effects.

This drug you mentioned that stunts emotion so that soldiers would not hesitate to kill an enemy, sounds made-up, and probably an urban legend you heard somewhere. There is no reason for any military organization to bother using it. Soldiers will kill the enemy without the benefit of drugs, and without hesitation.


Also, LSD was not invented by the US army. It was actually invented by Sandoz, a drug company from Switzerland, not the US. It was investigated for use as a mind-controlling agent by the CIA, but the project was scrapped because of lack of efficacy.
 
Adamanteus said:
Brainwashing is already widespread. It is used less in democratic nations because soldiers have more rights to refuse it. Even so, there are subtle and not-so-subtle ways by which the military and the intelligence services utilize it.

What about having a mindset that means that soldiers that refuse are cast as traitors and banned from the army/good jobs. And those are experiments used on crack troops in OTL.
Brainwashing is used in corrupt regimes on select few but not mass scale.
What if major parts of the population including civilians were brainwashed not just genocided/persecuted until they were too scared to speak out. Think that Saddam instead of gassing random kurds just brainwashed their leaders and any skilled kurdish people so no organised resistance or even just resistance could take place.

And I don't mean that only soldiers get brainwashed in proposed ATL. It is common too do it on large segment sof populations.

The problem is that it is not uniformly effective. Some people are very strong willed and will not change their personality under any circumstances. The drugs that exist to further brainwashing tend to be either poorly effective, or be effective only short term, or have strange, unpredictable effects.

Their are two ways of dealing with this if your a brainwasher:

1.Disappear anyone strong-willed, after a few years of rule most people will not be strong willed.
And subliminal messages and the like will soften up the general public so brainwashing is easier.

2. Improved and increased research into brainwashing will lead too better drugs techniques.


This drug you mentioned that stunts emotion so that soldiers would not hesitate to kill an enemy, sounds made-up, and probably an urban legend you heard somewhere.

No, a BBC documentary. They had video footage of test subjects doing exerscises under it. They also had the odd retired soldier commenting on it.

There is no reason for any military organization to bother using it. Soldiers will kill the enemy without the benefit of drugs, and without hesitation.

That was in the post-worldwar2 army.
A allied survey of ordinary soldiers during WW2 found that only 2% shot too kill.
And 1% of them were deemed violent pscopaths.
The reason the soldiers improved in the cold war period was because the new training techniques devised by the psychologist guy blurred the lines between actual combat and training experiences so soldiers going into battles could make it managable by almost treating it like a training exersice.

Also, LSD was not invented by the US army. It was actually invented by Sandoz, a drug company from Switzerland, not the US. It was investigated for use as a mind-controlling agent by the CIA, but the project was scrapped because of lack of efficacy.

This is how it was presented to me on the BBC documentary. I may/probably am reporting the facts wrong though.

The ATL im proposing is one where civilians in regimes where brainwashed not only soldiers. In OTL troublesome civilians in regimes were just shot/locked up permanently.
In democratic countries not only are the armies brainwashed but also prisoners.
E.g prisoners/criminals are 'reducated' in 'rehabilitation' centers across the country.

Also the problem with hallungenic drugs on the enemy was that they could not be delivered effectivly. Also they lost their marbles and as well as shooting fellow soldiers also shooting civilians/hospitals/animals and pushing buttons that shouldn't be pushed. I.e say a activation button for a small tactical nuke.
 
Brainwashing is alive and well - just listen to a Democrate (or Micheal Moore)
Someone has turned off their thought processes.
 
Top