Manufacturing Cannon Fodder, Step One, Devaluation & Breakdown

Your daddy (the cult) loves you so much, but he’s very angry with you.

I spent some time in 1979 at the Unification Church compound in Boonville, California. I left after spending a week learning about the Divine Principle. My dear friend stayed and has been a member of the Unification Church ever since. He married a woman chosen for him in a mass wedding. The couple has five children, some having graduated from Cornell University. I think he’s had a nice life. We are all cult members, whether we know it or not. After leaving, I met the author, Steven Hassan. Today, Dr. Hassan advocates a non-coercive form of exit counseling.

The mini-progressive era is over, the cycle has come full circle, and the Players of The Great Game 2.0 are doing what comes naturally—preparing people to become cannon fodder in defence of their programmed ideological beliefs.

If you pay attention to current events, you will notice all of these tactics at play. We all live in The Cult of Modern Techno-Industrial Fossil-Fueled Financialized Capitalism, a highly belligerent game of conquering and controlling everything. Winners take over, and losers become enslaved people or dead.

Step One—Devaluation and Breakdown

The psychological process of breaking someone down to build them up again for control is a manipulative tactic often associated with coercive control involving several overlapping psychological techniques. It's a systematic process designed to erode a person's sense of self, independence, and reality, making them more reliant on the manipulator.

Here's a breakdown of the typical stages and psychological mechanisms involved:

Criticism and Blame: The manipulator constantly criticizes the person, highlighting flaws (real or imagined) and blaming them for problems, which chips away at their self-esteem and confidence.

Isolation: The person is gradually isolated from their support network (family, friends, colleagues). This increases their dependence on the manipulator and reduces external validation of their experiences.

Humiliation and Degradation: The manipulator may use insults, mockery, and public or private humiliation to make the person feel worthless.

Gaslighting: The manipulator distorts the person's perception of reality by denying their experiences, memories, and sanity, leading to self-doubt and confusion, making them question their judgment.

Creating Chaos and Instability: Erratic behavior, unpredictable reactions, and creating unnecessary drama keep the person off balance and anxious, making them more vulnerable to the manipulator's influence.

Deprivation: Basic needs like sleep, food, or emotional support might be withheld or inconsistently provided, further weakening the person's resistance.