🔶 Common "Deflection" Tactics Used by "Media" in Various Countries Regarding "Social Issues" 🔶

► Domestic Social Issues: Blamed on "individuals, laborers, masses, the homeless" (the lower class), or blamed on "immigrants, migrant workers, tourists, refugees, foreign capital, tariffs, international sanctions" (external countries).

► Foreign Social Issues: Blamed on "foreign governments, foreign ruling classes, foreign bourgeoisies" (the upper class), or blamed on "the state as a whole, the system, social structures" (systemic failure).

In short, beneath the seemingly protective behavior of the "mainstream media", "domestic authorities and corporate giants" (the upper class) are almost never targeted as the culprits for "domestic social issues"; the media consistently maintain a "blind spot" or "out-of-focus" stance toward them.

🔶 Related Concepts 🔶

► Media Framing: The way media select, organize, and highlight specific viewpoints, angles, or contexts when reporting news to guide audiences in understanding and interpreting events. Through narrative-based attribution of responsibility, it implies who or which entity should be held accountable for the problem.

► Depoliticization: The transformation of issues originally belonging to the realms of public affairs, values, power distribution, or social conflict into "technical," "administrative," or "economically specialized" problems that do not require political debate to resolve. While appearing objective, neutral, and unbiased on the surface, it may actually conceal the control of specific classes or interest groups.

► Rally 'Round the Flag Effect: A phenomenon where, when a country faces war or a diplomatic crisis, national leaders or ruling authorities can secure high levels of public support for a certain period, while domestic public criticism of government policies temporarily subsides. Additionally, it can serve to deflect domestic attention.

🔶 各國「媒體」對於「社會問題」常見的「轉移焦點」手法 🔶

► 「國內社會問題」：歸咎「個人、勞工、群眾、遊民」（底層階級），歸咎「移民、移工、遊客、難民、外資、關稅、國際制裁」（外部國家）。

► 「國外社會問題」：歸咎「外國政府、國外統治階級、國外資產階級」（上層階級），歸咎「國家整體、體制、結構」（系統失敗）。

總之，在「主流媒體」看似護航的行為之下，「國內的當權者、國內企業巨頭」（上層階級）幾乎都不會成為「國內社會問題」的責怪對象，媒體對他們幾乎都保持一貫「失焦」的狀態。

🔶 相關概念 🔶

► 媒體框架：媒體在報導新聞時，選擇、組織和凸顯特定觀點、角度或情境，藉此引導閱聽人理解和解釋事件的方式。透過敘事歸咎責任，暗示是誰或哪個單位應該為問題負責。

► 去政治化：將原本屬於公共、價值觀、權力分配或社會衝突的議題，轉化為不需要透過政治辯論來解決的「技術性」、「行政性」或「經濟專業」問題。雖然在表面上看起來客觀、中立、沒偏見，但實際上可能隱藏了特定階級或利益集團的控制。

► 聚旗效應：國家在面臨戰爭或是外交危機的時候，國家領導人或執政者能在一定期限內獲得很高的支持度，同時國內輿論會減少對政府施政的批判。此外，它還能起到轉移國內注意力的作用。

🔶 Book of Lord Shang (商君書): The Five Tactics for Ruling the People (馭民五術) ── The Most Vicious Imperial Machiavellianism 🔶

The Five Tactics for Ruling the People (馭民五術): Keeping the people ignorant (愚民), weakening the people (弱民), keeping the people exhausted (疲民), humiliating the people (辱民), and impoverishing the people (貧民).

In ancient Chinese philosophy, Legalism (法家思想) was often endowed with a pragmatic color of "enriching the country and strengthening the military" (富國強兵). However, when the sole operational objective of the "state apparatus" (國家機器) shifts toward absolute concentration of power and resource plunder, the people are no longer regarded as the foundation of the state, but rather as objects to be meticulously calculated and managed.

Later generations summarized the ruling logic of Legalist doctrines (法家學說), such as those of Shang Yang (商鞅), into the famous "Five Tactics for Ruling the People" (馭民五術).

🔶 [1] Keeping the People Ignorant (愚民) 🔶

► Unifying thought and closing off the people's wisdom (封閉民智). The government monopolizes education, keeps the common people in ignorance, and deprives them of their ability for independent thinking.

🔶 [2] Keeping the People Weak (弱民) 🔶

► A strong state makes the people weak; the art of governance lies entirely in weakening the people. Rulers deliberately suppress grassroots organizations and individual influence to prevent the formation of any forces capable of contending with the imperial court.

🔶 [3] Keeping the People Exhausted (疲民) 🔶

► Creating endless tasks for the people so they are exhausted from running about and have no time to attend to other matters.

Heavy labor, military service, or endless warfare compel common people to struggle desperately for basic survival the moment they open their eyes each day, leaving them with neither the leisure to ponder social injustices nor the energy to organize resistance.

🔶 [4] Humiliating the People (辱民) 🔶

► Destroying dignity, creating fear, and instilling mutual suspicion.

By undermining trust between individuals, a sense of insecurity forces everyone to retreat into an isolated state, creating the "atomization of society" where the populace loses the collective structure needed to gather strength and resist tyranny.[Note 1]

🔶 [5] Impoverishing the People (貧民) 🔶

► Stripping away surplus wealth; poverty breaks a person's resolve. Controlling social wealth to ensure the people can barely maintain a minimum standard of food and clothing.

🔶 Depleting people's strength (殺力) ── If the Five Tactics Fail, Eliminate Them 🔶

If all the aforementioned methods are exhausted and there are still unruly or disobedient strong people or dissidents, the final resort is direct resolution through violence or killing.

🔶 The Book of Lord Shang (商君書): Unveiling Ancient China's Ruthless Path to Power and Its Ongoing Suffering 🔶

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GqdMJphssyg

🔶 Shangjun Shu (Book of Lord Shang / 商君書) on Five Tactics for Controlling the People 🔶

https://www.douyin.com/video/7403376825725963561
(URL of English videos on Douyin (the Chinese version of TikTok))

🔶 Note 1 🔶

The rampant spread of suspected "scams" effectively destroys trust among the grassroots population. Governments may turn a blind eye while cracking down, or even worse, collude with criminal elements and play a double game.

Furthermore, this bears a strong resemblance to the growing trend in various countries where governments ban social networks for minors (minors, children, and adolescents), ostensibly under the guise of "protection". Does this comprehensive internet control in the name of "protection" also invisibly deprive the new generation of their capacity for networking and independent critical thinking?


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