The Hegelian Dialectic
Hegel and the Advancement of History
Unless you’re either a political science or philosophy major, Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel is a name you’re probably not familiar with. Hegel was a German philosopher that lived in the late eighteenth to early nineteenth century. His life and how he rose to prominence as a philosopher is an intriguing story, however the reason I’m talking about him in this article really has to do with what other people, people of power, have done with his work.
One of Hegel’s philosophies is known as the “Hegelian Dialectic”. At first, this philosophy seems like a benign concept that tries to explain how history progresses. This philosophy can be summed up as follows: Any idea that exists will necessarily come into conflict with its opposite. A solution will emerge from this conflict of opposing ideas and that solution will then eventually come into conflict with its own opposite idea. This conflict will produce yet another solution. That solution, in turn, will also come into conflict with its opposite to produce yet another solution, and so on and so on.
To put it in Hegel’s own terms, you start with a “thesis”, which means “the idea”. That thesis eventually comes into conflict with its “antithesis”, an opposite idea. The conflict that arises from these two opposing ideas creates the “synthesis”, which is the new idea that resolves the conflict. But it doesn’t end there. The new idea will inevitably come into conflict with its own antithesis and yield yet another solution, and so on and so on. This dialectic, Hegel said, explains the development of history, which he described as the idea of freedom unfolding.
The Hegelian Dialectic as a Tool of Mass Manipulation
The unfortunate irony here is that the Hegelian Dialectic is not only a way of explaining how history progresses, but it is also sort of a playbook on how to manipulate the masses. And therein lies the irony because the kind of people who want to manipulate the masses usually aren’t the kind of people who want to help freedom unfold. So how is it that the Hegelian Dialectic can be used to manipulate the masses?
Problem-Reaction-Solution
Hegel’s philosophy assumes that thesis, antithesis and synthesis occur naturally in society. But the use of the Hegelian Dialectic as a tool of mass manipulation involves the intentional creation of the thesis and/or the antithesis. As researcher David Icke explains, you have some agenda you want to pursue, let’s say for example it’s a war or a restriction on civil liberties, or both. But this agenda is not something the public is inclined to go along with. So you manufacture a crisis, let’s say a false military or terrorist attack. You then use agents in the media and the government to stir up the public around that crisis and put the blame on an easy target like a political, religious or ethnic minority, a foreign government or maybe something amorphous like “communism” or “terrorism”.
Then you have these same agents demand that the government take action to counter the perceived crisis and along with the government they offer up, promote and institute the very agenda that you wanted to put in place to begin with. So instead of trying to implement an unpalatable agenda directly, and potentially face opposition and public scrutiny, you avoid all of that headache by creating circumstances that make the people cry out for action, compromise their values, oppose dissenters and accept measures that would have been entirely unacceptable before.
Related: Controlled Opposition
David Icke has put this in simpler terms, calling it “problem-reaction-solution”. You create a problem that triggers a reaction from the public where they demand the government take action to address the problem and you serve up the solution that would have been an unacceptable measure under normal circumstances. The “you” in all of this isn’t just anybody, of course. It’s somebody with power and influence . And it’s really not just one person, but a group of people. It takes the coordination of government, corporate, and media resources to manipulate the masses.
You Can Use the Hegelian Dialectic, Too
I hope none of you are Machiavellian enough to want to manipulate the masses. And, no, it’s not okay to manipulate the masses for good, just in case anybody was thinking that. But you can use the Hegelian Dialectic for yourself, even though you may not ever be on the guest list at Bilderberg or Bohemian Grove. Armed with this knowledge, you now see the manipulation coming and you can educate others, as well. Which is what this blog is all about, so please share it with others.
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- Black and white stock photo of activists marching purchased from Big Stock Photo
