September 28: Journal Entry #6

As I touched upon in my previous journal post(s), I intend to research what tactics are utilized by individuals seeking to indoctrinate others into their movements. I began by referencing several academic papers which touched upon these tactics, and a paper that I found particularly enlightening was "Political Control," by Mai Hassan, Daniel Mattingly, and Elizabeth R. Nugent. The paper was written with the intention of identifying the methods that authoritarian regimes use to indoctrinate, and control their populace. However, the paper seldom references growing political movements within the western world, particularly "extreme" movements; it exclusively references pre-established political bodies such as states. Nonetheless, I think that the conclusions reached in the paper are applicable to my research due to the fact that many political, and social organizations within the United states, along with the wider western world, are becoming increasingly more authoritarian, and by extension similar to the states referenced the paper; but I digress.

In paragraph three of the paper, the author(s) wrote "Rulers use material and nonmaterial rewards, ranging from supplying state benefits to indoctrination, to encourage compliance" (annualreviews.org). I would like to add to the thoughts of the author(s). I think that rulers also provide their subjects with a sense of community, and this is what I believe to be the core of political indoctrination: community. Humans are naturally inclined to develop, and remain within communities in order to ensure their survival, and as a result it is particularly difficult for individuals to divorce themselves from their communities. Political indoctrinators are terribly aware of this; they form, and invite others into communities, and by doing so they quickly amass followers. The followers are then trapped within these communities lest they grapple with the burden of loneliness 

This paper has informed of what tactics are used political indoctrinators, and it has led me to conclude that political indoctrination is centered around the establishment of a community. However, I am still unaware of what attracts people from one community, to another; in other terms, I need to know what groups of people political indoctrinators target, and why.