One of the most effective thought-terminating clich\u00e9s is\u00a0\u201cthe enemy of my enemy is my friend.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n It is particularly effective because it works on both people who are, let\u2019s say, not extraordinarily intelligent, and on more intelligent people, people who you wouldn\u2019t expect to fall for such simplistic tricks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It is especially effective in hyper-polarized sociocultural environments, like the one we\u2019re in currently, where people feel like they need to be on one or the other side of whatever.<\/p> If you\u2019re unfamiliar with\u00a0thought-terminating clich\u00e9s<\/a>, the term was popularized by Robert Jay Lifton in his seminal book about \u201cthought reform,\u201d i.e., brainwashing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe language of the totalist environment is characterized by the thought-terminating clich\u00e9. The most far-reaching and complex of human problems are compressed into brief, highly reductive, definitive-sounding phrases, easily memorized and easily expressed. These become the start and finish of any ideological analysis.\u201dThought Reform and the Psychology of Totalism: a Study of Brainwashing in China<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n Thought-terminating clich\u00e9s you might be familiar with include, but are not limited to,\u00a0\u201cyou\u2019re either with us or you\u2019re with the terrorists,\u201d \u201ctrust the science,\u201d \u201ctrust the plan,\u201d \u201cit\u2019s not perfect, but it\u2019s better than the alternative,\u201d \u201cit\u2019s just common sense,\u201d \u201cfreedom isn\u2019t free,\u201d \u201cthat\u2019s just the way it is,\u201d<\/em>\u00a0and the list goes on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Thought-terminating clich\u00e9s are designed to do exactly what it sounds like they are designed to do\u2026terminate thought, particularly critical thought.<\/p>\n\n\n\n They are typically deployed against you when you are challenging some item of official propaganda, or dogma, or reprehensible action, associated with or perpetrated by whatever \u201cparty,\u201d \u201cside,\u201d \u201cteam,\u201d or \u201ccult\u201d people think you\u2019re a member of, or are trying to get you to shut the fuck up about.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Let me give you a concrete example.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I assume you\u2019ve heard the latest news out of Germany, where the Intelligence service has designated the\u00a0Alternativ f\u00fcr Deutschland<\/em>\u00a0party a\u00a0\u201cconfirmed right-wing extremist group.\u201d<\/em>\u00a0This designation will enable the German authorities to ban the AfD, which is currently the most popular party in Germany.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Yes, these are same German authorities who have prosecuted me for a so-called \u201chate crime\u201d for tweeting the cover art of one of my books, and who banned that book, and who had me censored, and damaged my income and reputation as an author, and who are similarly persecuting numerous other \u201cCovid dissidents\u201d and government critics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Obviously, I\u2019m not a big fan of these authorities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n So I\u2019m expected to be a fan of the AfD, which was the only political party in Germany that opposed the so-called \u201cCovid measures,\u201d because \u201cthe enemy of my enemy is my friend.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The enemy of my enemy is not my friend.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The enemy of my enemy is exactly what my enemy (i.e., the German authorities) claim they are in this\u00a0Guardian\u00a0<\/a><\/em>article<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAccording to<\/a>\u00a0the BfV [i.e., Germany\u2019s domestic Intelligence service], the AfD\u2019s xenophobic stances based on an \u2018ethnic-ancestry-based understanding\u2019 of German identity are \u2018incompatible with the free democratic basic order\u2019 as indicated by the country\u2019s constitution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The spy agency added that the AfD\u00a0\u2018aims to exclude certain population groups from equal participation in society, to subject them to unconstitutional unequal treatment and thus to assign them a legally devalued status\u2019.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n It also said:\u00a0\u2018This exclusionary understanding of the people is the starting point and ideological basis for ongoing agitation against certain individuals or groups of people, through which they are defamed and despised indiscriminately and irrational fears and rejection are stirred up.\u2019<\/strong>\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n The irony here is that the German authorities, in describing the aims of the AfD, are describing exactly the totalitarian behaviors that they themselves indulged in during 2020-2023. The only difference being that the \u201cindividuals or groups of people\u201d who were \u201cexcluded from equal participation in society,\u201d \u201csubjected to unconstitutional treatment,\u201d and \u201cindiscriminately defamed and despised,\u201d were \u201cthe Unvaccinated,\u201d the \u201cmask refusers,\u201d the \u201cCovid deniers,\u201d and other \u201cCovid dissidents.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n I have written two entire books of essays documenting the grossly unconstitutional and totalitarian policies of the German authorities, so I won\u2019t go on and on about it here. The point is, the\u00a0Bundesamt f\u00fcr Verfassungsschutz<\/em>\u2019s description of the AfD, and their obliviousness to how it describes themselves, would be comical, were it not so psychotic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And the other point is, just because the BfV and the other German authorities are a bunch of liars and fascists, that doesn\u2019t mean that everything they say is a lie, and it doesn\u2019t make me a fan of the AfD.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But perhaps you\u2019re not familiar with the AfD. Perhaps you just heard Elon Musk, or J.D. Vance, or some other prominent member of the MAGA\/Musk Cult describe the AfD as \u201cthe only hope for Germany,\u201d or as a normal \u201ccentrist\u201d political party.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Here\u2019s the \u201ccentrist\u201d AfD\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n I plan to write a lot more in detail about the power trip the \u201cpopulist right\u201d is on currently, but I\u2019m going to wait to do that until things calm down. No one wants to hear that analysis at the moment, and I\u2019m tired of pissing into the wind. Just like in 2020, when the \u201cCovidian Cult\u201d was just getting started, well, as I put it back then\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cFacts do not matter to totalitarians and cult members. What matters is loyalty to the cult or the party.\u201d>The Covidian Cult<\/a>, October 13, 2020<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n This phase in the life of the MAGA\/Musk Cult will eventually pass. It always does. It took a couple years with the Covidian Cult, but I have a hunch that it won\u2019t take that long this time. The MAGA\/Musk Cult and its foreign subsidiaries are morphing into exactly the fascistic neo-nationalist monster the global-capitalist empire needs them to morph into, and they are doing it at breakneck speed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n![](\"https:\/\/www.activistpost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/AP-AffiliateAd-850x500-BrainSupreme-1.jpg\"\/)
<\/a><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n\n
\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.activistpost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/image-26.png\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.activistpost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/image-27.png\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n\n