Two Forms of Power by Gerald Hüther

„There are, after all, two ways of exercising power, so to speak. One is the old way, the one we all know: oppression.

We saw that under Stalinism and the like.

And then, here in the West, I’ve come to know another form that I hadn’t really thought about before.

That is seduction.

Seduction is something truly insidious. Because at least you can defend yourself against paternalism and tyranny.

Then you remain a subject.

It may crush you; it may kill you. You may have to spend your whole life under terrible conditions.

But you remain a subject. You can say: “I am, here I stand, I cannot do otherwise.”

Someone who has been seduced stands there and has no idea where they are.

They protect their seducers.

“Oh, then we can’t take our next vacation on a cruise ship after all. And how are we supposed to manage now that gas keeps getting more expensive?”—that’s how the demands of the seduced person come across.

And someone like that will, of course, always contribute to maintaining the system of seduction.

And that’s why turning people into the seduced is a much surer way of securing power than oppressing them.

The Church, by the way, knew this all along.“

Gerald HütherGerald Hüther describes two types of power: oppression and seduction, the latter being a subtle form of maintaining control.
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Gerald Hüther is a German neurobiologist known for his work in brain research and the neurobiological foundations of brain development.

Gerald Hüther explains two forms of power: oppression and subtle seduction as a means of maintaining control.


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Quote about two forms of power, oppression and seduction, by Gerald Hüther

Gerald Hüther is a renowned German neurobiologist, author, and speaker. He has gained international recognition for his interdisciplinary research on brain function, especially in areas of neuroplasticity and neural development. Hüther advocates for holistic education and personality development that goes beyond mere knowledge transfer.

Quote by Günther Anders about the power of collective conditioning and social controlCopyright © yoice.net – Quote Artwork
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"“To suppress a rebellion, it is not necessary to act violently. Methods like Hitler's are outdated. It suffices to create such a strong collective conditioning that the very thought of rebellion no longer arises in people's minds. The ideal would be to shape people from birth and restrict their innate biological abilities. Afterwards, one would continue with conditioning and strictly reduce education to the acquisition of professional skills. An uneducated person has a limited horizon, and the more their thinking is confined to mediocre aspirations, the less capable they are of rebelling. We must ensure that access to science becomes increasingly difficult and elitist, that a divide forms between people and science, and that information for the general public contains no subversive content. Above all, no philosophy. Here too, we must use the power of persuasion, not open violence. On television, large-scale entertainment programs are broadcast that appeal exclusively to feelings or instincts. The mind will be occupied with the useless and playful. They can distract their minds from thinking through constant chatter and music. We will place sexuality at the very top of a person's interest list. There is no better social tranquilizer. In general, we will do this so that the serious part of existence is eliminated, everything valuable is ridiculed, and frivolity is constantly supported, so that public euphoria becomes the measure of human happiness and a model of freedom. In this way, conditioning leads to such integration that our only fear is being excluded from the system and thus losing access to the conditions necessary for happiness. The mass person thus formed must be treated as what he is: like a cow, and one must care for him like a herd. Everything that leads to the apathy of his clear mind is a public good, and everything that could awaken this good must be mocked, suppressed, and fought. Any doctrine questioning the system must be branded as subversive and terrorist. And those who support it will then be treated as terrorists.”" Günther Anders
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Quote about a new form of oppression in democratic nations by Alexis de TocquevilleCopyright © yoice.net – Quote Artwork
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"I think then that the species of oppression by which democratic nations are menaced is unlike anything which ever before existed in the world: our contemporaries will find no prototype of it in their memories. I am trying myself to choose an expression which will accurately convey the whole of the idea I have formed of it, but in vain; the old words “despotism” and “tyranny” are inappropriate: the thing itself is new; and since I cannot name it, I must attempt to define it." Alexis de Tocqueville
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Quote by Prof. Rainer Mausfeld on the illusion of democracy and power dynamicsCopyright © yoice.net – Quote Artwork
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"But what could make democracy attractive to the powerful, whose very power it limits and threatens? The answer is quite simple: Nothing! For democracy means precisely to restrict the power needs of the powerful and the rich, in which they naturally have no interest. This now results in a tension between the needs of the rulers to stabilize their status and our need to feel socially autonomous and self-determined with regard to our social situation. In history, this fundamental tension has often been discharged in the form of revolutions. From the point of view of the rulers, how can this tension be defused if we want to avoid bloody revolutions? The solution lies in 'satisfying' the citizens' need for freedom with a surrogate, with a substitute drug, namely the illusion of democracy. To create such an illusion of democracy, one needs above all - and this is where the herd metaphor comes into play again - an ideology of justification that justifies why the people are immature and in need of leadership. Furthermore, the idea of democracy, which is so attractive to the people, must be emptied of its meaning so that it is limited only to an electoral act. And finally, continuous democracy management is needed to ensure that the people want what they are supposed to want in the act of voting." Prof. Rainer Mausfeld
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