Gaslighting
"Have you ever asked yourself, ‘am I crazy?’ If you have ever asked yourself
that, you’re not crazy. You’re most likely being gaslighted. Gaslighting is a
form of psychological abuse aimed at controlling a person by altering reality to
the point where the person will doubt their own sanity.
The term “gaslighting” comes from a 1930’s play called Gas Light. The main
character in the play literally tries to drive his wife crazy by gradually
dimming the gas-powered lights in their home. When she notices the lights
dimming, her husband not only denies that the lights are dimming, he convinces
her that she is imagining it to the point where she questions her own sanity.
We are living in a perpetual state of gaslighting. The reality that we are being
told by the media is at complete odds with what we are seeing with our own two
eyes. And when we question the false reality that we are being presented, or we
claim that what we see is that actual reality, we are vilified as racist or
bigots or just plain crazy. You’re not racist. You’re not crazy. You’re being
gaslighted.
New York State has twice as many deaths from Covid-19 than any other state, and
New York has accounted for one fifth of all Covid-19 deaths, but we are told
that New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has handled the pandemic better than any
other governor. But if we support policies of Governors whose states had only a
fraction of the infections and deaths as New York, we’re called anti-science and
want people to die. So, we ask ourselves, am I crazy? No, you’re being
gaslighted.
We see mobs of people looting stores, smashing windows, setting cars on fire and
burning down buildings, but we are told that these demonstrations are peaceful
protests. And when we call this destruction of our cities, riots, we are called
racists. So, we ask ourselves, am I crazy? No, you’re being gaslighted.
We see the major problem destroying many inner-cities is crime; murder, gang
violence, drug dealing, drive-by shootings, armed robbery, but we are told that
it is not crime, but the police that are the problem in the inner-cities. We are
told we must defund the police and remove law enforcement from crime-riddled
cities to make them safer. But if we advocate for more policing in cities
overrun by crime, we are accused of being white supremacists and racists. So, we
ask ourselves, am I crazy? No, you’re being gaslighted.
The United States of America accepts more immigrants than any other country in
the world. The vast majority of the immigrants are “people of color”, and these
immigrants are enjoying freedom and economic opportunity not available to them
in their country of origin, but we are told that the United States is the most
racist and oppressive country on the planet, and if we disagree, we are called
racist and xenophobic. So, we ask ourselves, am I crazy? No, you’re being
gaslighted.
Capitalist countries are the most prosperous countries in the world. The
standard of living is the highest in capitalist countries. We see more poor
people move up the economic ladder to the middle and even the wealthy class
through their effort and ability in capitalist countries than any other economic
system in the world, but we are told capitalism is an oppressive system designed
to keep people down. So, we ask ourselves, am I crazy? No, you’re being
gaslighted.
Communist countries killed over 100 million people in the 20th century.
Communist countries strip their citizens of basic human rights, dictate every
aspect of their lives, treat their citizens like slaves, and drive their
economies into the ground, but we are told that Communism is the fairest, most
equitable, freest and most prosperous economic system in the world. So, we ask
ourselves, am I crazy? No, you’re being gaslighted.
Gaslighting has become one of the most pervasive and destructive tactics in
American politics. It is the exact opposite of what our political system was
meant to be. It deals in lies and psychological coercion, and not the truth and
intellectual discourse. If you ever ask yourself if you’re crazy, you are not.
Crazy people aren’t sane enough to ask themselves if they’re crazy. So, trust
yourself, believe what’s in your heart. Trust our eyes over what we are told.
Never listen to the people who tell you that you are crazy, because you are not,
you’re being gaslighted."