In this alternative account people aren’t “brainwashed” insofar as they don’t actually believe the lies, not in the way that we generally understand belief. It’s more correct to say that they go along with them, whether enthusiastically or apprehensively, because it’s actually their optimal survival strategy. When we concede that the time horizon and scope of responsibility within which we all make our decisions varies, it becomes much easier to see how their choice could be smart and intelligent. The enlightened critic can plead that if we all agreed to denounce the status quo in unison we’d be immensely rewarded, but the average worker in the first world cannot be accused of naiveté for preferring to keep a low profile, particularly after being subject — very often by that same critic — to so many grim stories of murder and of punishment and of how any attempt at radical change always goes awry.
This is called coercion. This article directly opposes your position.
It doesn't. The passage you quoted here nicely explains. The point of the passage is why the average worker in the west rejects communism. It doesn't provide cover for those actively spreading and positively engaging with racist propaganda. It illuminates the problem with our counter-propaganda and gives us a way forward.
From the same article:
Stop accusing the masses of being “brainwashed.” Stop treating them as cattle, stop attempting to rouse them into action by scolding them with exposure to “unpleasant truths.”
Accept instead that they have been avoiding those truths for a reason. You were able to break through the propaganda barrier, and so could they if they really wanted to. Many of these people see you as the fool, and in many cases not without reason.
Understanding people as intelligent beings, craft a political strategy that convincingly makes the case for why they and their lot are very likely to benefit from joining your political project. Not in some utopian infinite timescale, but soon.
If you cannot make this case, then forget about convincing the person in question. Focus instead on finding other people to whom such a case can be made. This will lead you directly to class analysis.
The key point for this discussion being number 4. The ones that are choosing to be racist will not be convinced by us, and a lot of the people in the west today simply live comfortable lives (especially relative to the Third World) that they don't want to change. In part, the racism gives them justification for this. An example.
Why are you able to reject propaganda?
Edit:
This is called coercion. This article directly opposes your position.
It doesn't. The passage you quoted here nicely explains. The point of the passage is why the average worker in the west rejects communism. It doesn't provide cover for those actively spreading and positively engaging with racist propaganda. It illuminates the problem with our counter-propaganda and gives us a way forward.
From the same article:
The key point for this discussion being number 4. The ones that are choosing to be racist will not be convinced by us, and a lot of the people in the west today simply live comfortable lives (especially relative to the Third World) that they don't want to change. In part, the racism gives them justification for this. An example.
This is super idealistic IMO