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The Destruction of Historical Understanding The third lesson we can take away from *1984* is that if you want to control people, you must destroy their understanding of history. Orwell writes, “Who controls the past controls the future. Who controls the present controls the past.” There is a clear example of this in Canada. In order to create one large, international communal state in which everyone is expected to care about everyone else, those in power must shatter people’s understanding of history and persuade them to support that agenda. How do you accomplish that? Canada’s unmarked-graves controversy is a useful example. The story became global, and much of the political class and media supported it. No bodies were ever found. Instead, ground-penetrating radar detected anomalies in the soil, which were then described as unmarked graves containing children. From the very beginning, there was no physical evidence to support such a bold claim. But that was never the point. The point was to make people believe that supporting Canada meant supporting the genocide of children allegedly buried beneath the ground on which they stood. Whether or not people accepted the claims, the narrative had a powerful effect: it undermined patriotism and weakened any sense of loyalty to the nation.

What Chairman Mao and Dolores Umbridge Have in Common In Harry Potter, Dolores Umbridge is a more realistic villain than Voldemort: she gains power through titles, loyalty, conformity, and paperwork, not competence. She weakens Defense Against the Dark Arts by replacing practical preparation with Ministry-approved theory—her real talent is playing the institutional game. This echoes Hannah Arendt’s “banality of evil,” where ordinary people advance by obeying and enforcing a system. When loyalty matters more than ability, institutions start selecting for mediocrity. The parallel with Maoist China is stark. During the Cultural Revolution, Zhang Tiesheng was celebrated for submitting a blank exam and attacking “bookworms.” Despite poor results, political loyalty earned him a seat in the National People’s Congress. Mao’s promotion rule was effectively “red and expert”: political reliability outweighed competence. The consequences were catastrophic. Honest reporting was punished, so officials produced what Mao wanted to hear. False harvest data drove unrealistic targets and helped fuel the Great Leap Forward famine, which killed tens of millions. Education was politicized too: the Gaokao was abolished in 1966, and when admissions resumed, scores were replaced by class background, manual labor experience, and Party recommendations; the national exam returned only in 1977. Totalitarian systems don’t just remove capable people—they select for those politically reliable and morally compliant. Mediocrity shields leaders from rivals; reduced conscience makes coercion easier. Psychologist Andrew Lobaczewski called this pathocracy: rule by the pathological disordered, where normal institutions lose their ability to distinguish honest from manipulative. The system keeps its name and stated purpose while serving something else. The lesson: tyranny doesn’t require everyone to become evil. It requires enough people to stop recognizing the pathological. Once that moral filter disappears, institutions become vulnerable to exploitation—how psychopaths take over a society.

Who Gets Promoted in a Broken Society? In Harry Potter, J.K. Rowling created a villain: Dolores Umbridge. She gains power not through competence, but conformity, loyalty, and bureaucracy. Evil rarely looks like Voldemort. Umbridge resembles Hannah Arendt’s “banality of evil”: ordinary people pursuing advancement by playing the institutional game. She enforces ideology through bureaucracy. Loyalists replace competent people, dissenters are labelled extremists, and punishment becomes a tool of conformity. The goal is not truth, but compliance. Political Ponerology Polish psychologist Andrew Lobaczewski studied how institutions can be captured by pathological individuals. He called the resulting system pathocracy, and the transformation of normal institutions into ones serving pathological interests ponerization. The danger begins when institutions lose the ability to distinguish competence from manipulation. Those willing to conform can rise precisely because others will not. Ideologues create doctrines, propagandists spread them, and ruthless operators capture institutions. The lesson: totalitarianism does not require one tyrant. It emerges when institutions lose the ability to distinguish the pathological from the honest. The Case of Mao Mao’s China offers a striking example. During the Cultural Revolution, Zhang Tiesheng became famous for submitting a blank exam paper while denouncing intellectuals. Political loyalty mattered more than academic ability. Mao elevated being politically “red” over being technically “expert.” Specialists were displaced by ideologically reliable outsiders. Officials who honestly reported collapsing harvests were purged, while those telling Mao what he wanted to hear advanced. False information helped sustain the Great Leap Forward, whose famine killed tens of millions. China abolished university entrance exams in 1966; they were not restored until 1977. A system that selects against competence eventually loses the ability to see reality. Mediocrity protects power; moral compromise enforces it. Capture education, and you shape a generation unable to challenge the system.

Nieoficjalnie 9 września nowe menu w polskim McDonald's. Maple BBQ & Bacon Quarter Pounder Podwójny Maple BBQ & Bacon Quarter Pounder McCrispy Teriyaki McNuggets Black Pepper & Garlic (6 szt.) + 1 sos do wyboru Sprite X Sakura 0,4 l WYŁĄCZNIE w aplikacji – Loyalty: Cheese Empanadas (3 szt.) od 16.09 do 30.09 Sos Szechuan Style Sos Truffle Cheese McFlurry Popcorn Caramel #McDonalds #NoweMenu #FastFood

Unlike his first term, when many of his most notable conflicts were with dissenters in his own administration, this time around US would-be gilded dictator has butted heads even with those who have proven themselves the most loyal to him https://t.co/siGR6UmQj6 #GildedDictator #PoliticalConflict #LoyaltyIssues #US

Trump—a comically germaphobic billionaire with Liberace’s taste in decor who plays tracks from the Phantom of the Opera at rallies—has earned the loyalty of millions of white working-class voters being one of the least personally relatable candidates ever https://t.co/7F5tQyVa2c #Trump #Germaphobe #WorkingClass #Therearenocountrycodesmentionedinthetweetprovided.

10/10 Allies will learn to perform loyalty rather than align strategically. Adversaries will learn to wait. The paradox of Trump's Latin American interventionism: even when it "works," it teaches the region that US power is no longer something to rely on #USForeignPolicy #LatinAmerica #TrumpInterventionism #US #LA

Nathan Ake 🩵🥹 Un soldat incroyable. Pendant six ans, tu t’es battu pour ce maillot. Tu as remporté tous les titres possibles, toujours avec exemplarité. Jamais un problème, que du sérieux et de l’amour pour le club. Tu as été extraordinaire. Lors du triplé, tu as mis dans ta poche les meilleurs ailiers du monde. Tu vas me manquer. @NathanAke #MerciNathan #Loyalty #Football

Viktor Orbán's defeat in Hungary has revealed the fragility of his hybrid regime, where loyalty among elites waned as belief in the regime's invincibility crumbled, demonstrating that such regimes are vulnerable not only to public dissent but also to internal disillusionment with the power structures that sustain them. #Węgry #ViktorOrban #reżimhybrydowy

Life under Turkey's Autocracy: Erdogan emerges from @suzyhans book as a ruthless autocrat who rose to power through undeniable popular support. Then came corruption and oppression, gutting of state institutions, loyalty over expertise https://t.co/vsvVqB8Rvw #Turkey #Erdogan #Autocracy #TR

Ο,ΤΙ ΠΕΙ ΡΕ ΤΥΦΛΗ ΕΜΠΙΣΤΟΣΥΝΗ ΑΚΟΛΟΥΘΟΥΜΕ ΠΙΣΤΑ #paobc https://t.co/77Pu8qNGPd #trust #loyalty #follow

Hey @ouraring Can you explain how a customer is supposed to feel when they pay for a ring, the ring never arrives, and your solution is neither a replacement nor a refund? I've been a loyal customer, but this experience has been awful. Ready to throw away my 4 in the trash at #CustomerService #OuraRing #LoyaltyLost #Thetweetdoesnotmentionanyspecificcountries.Therefore #therearenocountrycodestoreturn.

Normalerweise spreche ich nicht über private Dinge. In den letzten Wochen war ich so ziemlich von der Bildfläche verschwunden. Viele haben sich nach mir erkundigt, aber ich habe nur selten die Kraft gefunden, zu antworten. Leider ist mein geliebter Vater am 11. Mai verstorben. In seinen letzten Stunden durfte ich noch bei ihm sein und seine Hand halten. Vorgestern haben wir ihn zu Grabe getragen. Vor diesem Verlust habe ich immer Angst gehabt. Und jetzt kann ich nicht fassen, dass mein Vater einfach nicht mehr da ist. Ich werde niemals mehr “Papa” sagen können und nie mehr sein freudiges “Sandimaus“ hören, wenn er mich gesehen hat. Mein Vater war ein Ausnahmemensch. Er stand wie kein anderer für alte Tugenden: Ehre, Würde, Anstand, Rückgrat und Treue. Er war ein Gentleman, der allen Menschen mit Respekt begegnet ist. Auch war er der selbstloseste Mensch, den ich kenne. Er hat für andere alles gegeben, und sich selbst stets zurückgenommen. Meine Mutter hat er auf Händen getragen. Auch für meine Großeltern war er immer da. Sie haben ihn geliebt wie ihren eigenen Sohn. Ich hätte mir keinen besseren Vater wünschen können. Er war liebevoll und fürsorglich. Ich habe ihm alles zu verdanken. Es tröstet, dass er jetzt von allen Schmerzen befreit und wieder mit meiner Mutter, seiner großen Liebe, vereint ist. Ich bin unendlich dankbar dafür, dass ich ihn hatte.   ***   I usually don’t speak about my personal life. Over the past few weeks, I’ve been missing in action. Many of you have reached out, but I’ve rarely had the bandwidth to reply. Sadly, my beloved father passed away on May 11. I held his hand when he passed. A couple of days ago, we laid him to rest. I had always been afraid of this day. And now I can’t fathom that my dad just isn’t around anymore. Never again will I be able to say “Papa” and never again will I hear his joyful “Sandimaus” when he’d see me. My father was a truly extraordinary mensch. Like none other, he embodied traditional virtues: honor, dignity, decency, integrity, and loyalty. He was a gentleman who treated everyone with respect. Also, he was the most selfless and giving person I have ever known. He cherished my mother, the love of his life. I could not have wished for a better father. He was loving and caring. I owe everything I am to him. At least now he is relieved of his pain and reunited with my mother. I am truly grateful that I had him. #Trauer #Erinnerung #Familie

Not sure if wrld.org has an arts or literature section? I’m looking for beta readers for a new book “Letters from England”. Here is an overview: OVERVIEW In August 2015, Timothy Goldring, a British businessman, began a sentence of seven years in Changi Maximum Security Prison, Singapore. He had no telephone. He could not always reply to letters. He had a concrete floor, a tikka sleeping mat, and seven cellmates in a cell twelve feet by twenty. The following month, a letter arrived through the food hatch. It was typed. It was from Lancashire. It began: Dear Tim, Trust your accommodation is up to the normal standards. Francis - IT businessman, Fitbit enthusiast, walker of the Yorkshire Dales, dreamer of a bungalow in Burnley with an inside lavatory — wrote to his oldest friend every month for four and a half years. Fifty-one letters. He did not miss a month. He wrote about what was happening in the world, about Donald Trump and Brexit, about his shoulder operation and his grandchildren and the taxi he drove home drunk on New Year’s Eve. He wrote the way he talked — with a Lancashire man’s instinct for irony, an old friend’s instinct for loyalty, and the stubborn conviction that the world continued and his friend was entitled to know about it. He did not write about the cell. He did not write about the sentence. He treated Timothy as he had always treated him: as a man who was interested in the world and entitled to opinions about it. Between every line, unspoken but unmistakable, was a single message: “I have not forgotten you. Here is the world, held open. I’m keeping your place in it warm.” Letters from England is two books woven into one. It is Francis’s book — a month-by-month chronicle of Britain, seen through the lens of one man’s grim, affectionate, furiously funny dispatch from the outside world. And it is Timothy’s book — the replies he could not send at the time: what it is to receive, month after month, the voice of a friend speaking from a world you can no longer reach. What it is to discover, in the most reduced of circumstances, that a smaller world is not necessarily a lesser one. That a monk’s cell and a prison cell are, in certain lights, the same room. That friendship, at its most austere — stripped of presence, of reciprocal conversation, of every ordinary reassurance — is perhaps the most extraordinary thing there is. This is not a story of crime or punishment. It is a story of loyalty. Of what one man does when another disappears from the world. He writes. Month after month. Into the silence. Because the alternative — to say nothing, to let the distance win — was, for Francis, sat in his cottage in Lancashire, simply not acceptable. If anyone is interested let me know and we’ll figure out how to get a pdf to you. Many thanks.

Bill Cassidy: I don't really think President Trump likes me that much, but we work really well together. When you participate in democracy, sometimes it doesn't turn out the way you want it to. But you don't pout. You don't whine. You don't claim that an election was stolen from you. American leaders, he said, should not be focused on loyalty to one individual, but rather to the wellbeing of the general public. And if someone doesn't understand that and attempts to control others through using the levers of power, they're about serving themselves. They're not about serving us. And that person is not qualified to be a leader.

Republican Senator Bill Cassidy, who voted to convict Donald Trump during his impeachment trial, is facing a difficult primary election against Trump-supported Congresswoman Julia Letlow and another Trump-aligned candidate, amid ongoing tensions with the former president and questions about his loyalty to the GOP. #TrumpChallenge #RepublicanPrimary #PoliticalSurvival #US #LA #AK #ME

Republican Senator Bill Cassidy, who previously voted to convict Donald Trump during his impeachment trial, is struggling to maintain his political position in the face of a Trump-backed challenge from Congresswoman Julia Letlow in Louisiana's primary election, amid Trump's criticism of Cassidy's loyalty to the party. #RepublicanPolitics #TrumpChallenge #Election2023 #US #AL #ME #LA