Induce Fear

Historically, propaganda has been used by dictators to control populations. And as always with all successful propaganda, the target population is almost entirely unaware of this simple fact. Some have even remarked upon the ease with which a population can be controlled through surprisingly simple propaganda techniques:

“Naturally the common people don’t want war: Neither in Russia, nor in England, nor for that matter in Germany. That is understood. But, after all, it is the leaders of the country who determine the policy and it is always a simple matter to drag the people along, whether it is a democracy, or a fascist dictatorship, or a parliament, or a communist dictatorship. Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the peacemakers for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same in any country.“
– Hermann Goering, President of the Reichstag, Nazi Luftwaffe Commander in Chief

Consider the similarity of this to the words of a more recent politician:

“America must not ignore the threat gathering against us. Facing clear evidence of peril, we cannot wait for the final proof, the smoking gun, that could come in the form of a mushroom cloud…This is a difficult struggle of uncertain duration. We hunt an enemy that hides in shadows and caves. There is no room for neutrality … You’re either with us or against us.” — quoted in the London Guardian

“Look, our strategy is to create chaos, to create a vacuum. We will export death and violence to the four corners of the earth in defense of our great nation.” quoted in “Plan of Attack” by Bob Woodward

A fearful citizenry kept in perpetual ignorance is easily led. Very easily.

The current century has produced the most highly surveilled societies in history. From CCTV cameras in every community center and intersection, to the automated monitoring of all electronic and written communication, satellites which track individuals, face recognition systems, intensive data mining through coordinated databases, biometric scanning, automated profiling systems, nanometer sized injectable RFID, backscatter virtual strip searches, insect-sized drones equipped with cameras and microphones, corporate spy-and-locate (aka Google "view' systems), and much more. Only a fearful and frightened citizenry would accept such prison-like monitoring of their movements and stripping of their human right to privacy.

The well established technique of declaring such surveillance as necessary for ‘public safety’ - a technique used extensively by the Nazis' Goebbels and in similar regimes worldwide - has been voiced as means of suppression of dissent.

Orwell’s, Eulle’s, Faulcault’s, and others’ warnings against the invisible rise of totalitarianism is lost amid the bellicose (albeit silent to those so acculturated) clatter of redirection.