Social control

Wikipedia coverage: Read the full Wikipedia article, including its references. The material below is the existing Deep Politics Wiki article.

See also Population control

Social control link (Statecraft, Soft power, Social engineering, Social change, Mind control)
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Type	idea

Social control is an interest of deep politicians with long term aspirations. Whether dystopian or utopian, the fundamental idea is that most people lack the intelligence to think for themselves and therefore need to be kept under control by those with the capability and vision to do so. {{#subobject: |Has superobject=Social control |Has objectClass=Quotation |Has author=anonymous|+sep=, |Has text=“The history of social control since the end of the Cold War is the history of trying to create a permanent state of war with a conceptual list of enemies – drugs, terror, climate change and COVID – that, for all intents and purposes, do not actually exist.” |Is about=Social control,social control, fearmongering, war on drugs, climate change, war on terrorism, terrorism, COVID-19/Panic, terrorisation|+sep=, |Has wikipediaPage= |Has location=|+sep=, |Has publicationDate=2025-11-17 |Sourced from=Off-Guardian - This Week in the New Normal #109 |Has sourceDetails= |Has sourceTitle= |Has sourceName=Off-Guardian - This Week in the New Normal #109 |Has sourceURL=https://off-guardian.org/2025/11/17/this-week-in-the-new-normal-109/

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“The history of social control since the end of the Cold War is the history of trying to create a permanent state of war with a conceptual list of enemies – drugs, terror, climate change and COVID – that, for all intents and purposes, do not actually exist.”
anonymous (2025-11-17) 

Controlled media

Full article: Corporate media

For most people in the world, in the late 20^th century, the commercially-controlled media was highly influential in shaping their worldview, with television being a key tool in the process. The rise of the internet is changing this, and strenuous efforts are being made by the establishment to increase internet censorship.

"Forgotten" topics

Certain topics are deemed unsuitable for school, i.e. how money is created, media ownership, methods of empire (like covert action, state sponsored assassinations, see also Strategy of Tension), or quantum physics.

Strategy of Tension

Full article: Strategy of Tension

Since WW2, Operation Gladio has applied a strategy of tension, most notably in Italy, but also in other countries like Greece or Belgium, to promote fear an uncertainty and render the population pliable. This has been ramped up since 9-11 and the 21^st century has seen a spate of false flag attacks used to promote the idea of a worldwide "war on terror". The original Gladio has been replaced by Gladio B, demonising "Muslim terrorists".

Global Control grid

Full article: Global control grid

The Global control grid describes the technical possibilities and applications to achieve social control.

Social credit system

Full article: Social credit system

In China the so called "social Credit" System has combined large scale surveillance with aversive conditioning.

ID2020

Full article: ID2020

China's Orwellianism has been called a reference for ID2020, a Bill Gates global biometric tagging project and Chinese specialists took part in Event201 which eventually modeled implementation for such measures. Template:Cn

Nudge Theory

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Similar to China, in the US and its 'allies' behavioral science insights are used to "better serve the people." (Obama) , i.e. occasional rewards and punishments in the vicious form of ostracism aka a feeling of social exclusion and guilt or even shame . The system is praised in that it changes how people behave in predictable ways “without forbidding any options or significantly changing their economic incentives.” The author fails to mention that such manipulative measures foster dependency and passivity, lower self esteem and are more painful than paying a fine. They might fly under the radar, however, operating in stealthy and covert ways. {{#subobject: |Has superobject=Social control |Has objectClass=Quotation |Has author=Harriet Braiker|+sep=, |Has text=“How Do You Get Manipulated? Manipulative relationships depend on activating one (or both) of two principal human drives: gain (or reward) and loss (or avoidance). These are the two engines that drive the manipulation. Do not bother looking for anything more complicated than this: Manipulation always boils down to the promise of a net gain and/or the threat of a net loss.” |Is about=Social control,manipulation, social control, Soft power|+sep=, |Has wikipediaPage= |Has location=|+sep=, |Has publicationDate=2003 |Sourced from=Who's Pulling Your Strings?: How to Break the Cycle of Manipulation and Regain Control of Your Life. Harriet Braiker, McGraw Hill Professional, 2003, p. 119 (available as torrent) |Has sourceDetails= |Has sourceTitle= |Has sourceName=Who's Pulling Your Strings?: How to Break the Cycle of Manipulation and Regain Control of Your Life. Harriet Braiker, McGraw Hill Professional, 2003, p. 119 (available as torrent) |Has sourceURL=

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“How Do You Get Manipulated? Manipulative relationships depend on activating one (or both) of two principal human drives: gain (or reward) and loss (or avoidance). These are the two engines that drive the manipulation. Do not bother looking for anything more complicated than this: Manipulation always boils down to the promise of a net gain and/or the threat of a net loss.”
Harriet Braiker (2003) 

Manipulation is different from — and should not be confused with — legitimate, direct, above-board influence. In contrast to openly announced influence (i.e. monetary incentives), manipulative social control thrives in an atmosphere of indirect, devious, and even deceptive communication. Agendas frequently are hidden and purposes disguised. Threats, intimidation, and coercion are preferred tactics. Manipulators seek the opportunity to ensnare and entrap their victims. They often proceed in subtle, devious, or covert ways so that the manipulative character of the relationship is well established long before its true nature becomes apparent.

School

Full article: School

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School is the primary means of social control of the young. School whistleblower John Taylor Gatto documented a concerted effort to extend childhood in his Underground History of American Education which details a decision made by managers in the second half of the 19^th century to use mass compulsion schooling to handicap the intellectual development of the masses. He states that "adolescence" is a modern concept, and cites the example of David Farragut who was commissioned a midshipman in the United States Navy before he was a teenager, and in the War of 1812 was even put in charge of a captured vessel, the Essex.

Denial of autonomy

In March 2015 Child Protective Services found Danielle and Alexander Meitiv guilty of "unsubstantiated child neglect" after they admitted allowing their children, ages 6 and 10 years old, to walk home alone from a park less than one mile from their house. Maryland laws stated that kids must be accompanied by an adult until they reach age 13.

Student debt

Student debt, especially with the system that is in place in the US with more than one Trillion USD by 2011, forces people to conformity in the corporate or government structure, to be able to pay these loans back in a timely manner. A 2017 article which claimed that "Student loan defaults are a bonanza for the debt collection industry" was headlined Americans Are Paying $38 to Collect $1 of Student Debt.

Advertisements

Advertisements have been used to try to deter particular behaviours.

Tobacco

Advertisements for tobacco products were banned in many countries.^[When?] Later, a health warning on the packages was mandated. Later still, this was illustrated with a graphic image, for example, of a victim of lung cancer.

Knife crime

Research into new methods of social control is ongoing. In UK in 2019, the UK Home office introduced messages on boxes of fried chicken, reportedly intended to deter knife crime.

Economics

Monetisation arguably represents one of the most important and widespread means of social control.

Taxes

Alcohol and tobacco products are heavily taxed in most countries.

Subsidies

Various products have been subsidised, either to motivate consumption, alleviate hardship or for more complex reasons. For example, in the UK, mortgage tax relief motivated people to take out large, long term mortgages.

Videos

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Aldous Huxley - The Ultimate Revolution (Berkeley Speech 1962)

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Alison McDowell asks if it is prudent to place our "trust" in a technology of unknown origin? Who or what 'Satoshi Nakamoto' actually is and whose interests this invention advances. Why restructure the world's social and economic structures around this code? What would it mean to live life on a ledger?

Watch on YouTube

Dr.SHIVA™: SHATTER THE SWARM™. How The Few Control the Many. - Shiva Ayyadurai (Jun 11, 2023)

References