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take refuge in esoteric logics to reinforce their power. In this way, mystification becomes a form of response to injustice, but also a trap, as it diverts anger towards the invisible, neutralizes collective struggle and reinforces the established order by leading people to believe that change will come from above, or elsewhere- but never from the people themselves.
Creating a common enemy: the strategy of emotional diversion in both Africa and the West
Flashmag! Issue 163 August 2025
While things look pretty gloomy for the African continent, the Western world also seems to have caught the dictatorship fever which, with the rise of the extreme right in the USA and elsewhere, has become a veritable social phenomenon, perhaps not yet fully perceptible by populations long lulled by ideals of freedom and who no longer know what it’ s like to live under a dictatorship.“ The people don’ t need to know the truth, they need an enemy” George Orwell( 1984).- George Orwell( 1984). Creating an internal or external enemy is a way of deflecting popular anger. In the former USSR, Stalin blamed“ saboteurs” and“ enemies of the people” for every crisis. In China, Mao Zedong launched the Cultural Revolution by blaming“ counter-revolutionaries” for the Party’ s failures. In the U. S., the far-right’ s hunt for immigrants is just another pretext for diverting attention and rolling out the carpet for repression, which, as it stands, is programmed to go beyond the repression of illegals, but also and above all of Americans, who are already beginning to divide themselves according to Trumpian rhetoric between those of native and naturalized stock. In Western democracies, authoritarian or dictatorial tendencies have emerged or strengthened, particularly in the United States. A recent study revealed that after Donald Trump’ s term in office, democracy is in retreat in the United States, which for the first time joins the list of countries with“ worrying” democratic setbacks.
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