SavannahMann
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- Nov 16, 2016
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I read a book by a former Naval Officer who had been sent to China after he got out of the Navy to work with them on their space program. One story he told just came to mind. He was always followed by one of the Ministry of State Security Watchers. The watcher had been called away while they were at lunch, and the Engineers and Scientists he was working with looked around, and then stationed a guard by the door. They showed him a Censored Magazine. Whole sections had been removed.
They showed him a paragraph that identified some technology as being derived from the Apollo Moon Landings. These Engineers asked. “Has America gone to the Moon?”
They didn’t know more than twenty years later, that the Americans had landed on the Moon. More than two decades, a full generation later, and they still had not been told by the Chinese Government that the American’s had launched any missions to the Moon. That my friends is information control.
www.nytimes.com
I read the original story on Hot Air, but it’s behind a paywall, and won’t bother linking.
Now, why is this dangerous? We’ve already seen the dangers. Just in the last few months.
www.foxnews.com
Russian’s aren’t told about Chernobyl. The Soldiers had no clue that anything bad had happened there. They were ignorant of the dangers, because the Government they served, wanted them to be ignorant.
I’ve taken issue with the American Government for exposing troops to Radioactive Dangers to find out what happened, long term. But we know what happens, now, so even the argument that the American’s didn’t know what they were doing, is lost. And it was bullshit before.
But Russia can’t be made to look bad. Not in a totalitarian society. The State is always right, and good. And this is why the Russians are fed a diet of propaganda day and night. This is why information from the west is restricted. It is said that Truth is the first casualty of war. If so, Russia has been at war for a very long time, because not telling their people about Chernobyl, that’s just inexcusable.
Russia seeks to emulate the Chinese Information Control for their people. That is to take what they are already doing, and restrict information even more. The movie Airplane 2 mocked this trend of totalitarians, when it was still the Soviet Union.
Now, it is funny, but like most funny things, there is an element of truth. Every setback or failure was an opportunity for great things.
When Submarine Snorkels were first adapted, the prototype Russian models had a few flaws. They allowed Diesel Exhaust to be sucked into the submarine. By the time the submarine surfaced, and everyone climbed out, they were suffering from Carbon Monoxide poisoning. Their arms, legs, hands and feet had swelled.
Instead of saying we have a few bugs to work out obviously. The Russians heralded it as proof of the superiority of the New Soviet Man. Yes, the men would meekly submit to being poisoned. How awesome is that?
That is what we are in again. A new Cold War, with a perpetually dishonest and lying Opponent.
I was at Fort Bragg when the wall fell. I was there when a Russian Army Officer arrived to see how the American Paratroopers trained and operated. The officers were shocked. Enlisted men had maps, and could read them. Enlisted men could navigate by maps. Maps were classified items in the Russian Army of the era. They probably still are. Only officers got to see them, and only officers were able to read or navigate by them. While we took troops out and tested them on their ability to navigate by map and compass. Even the lowest ranking privates.
The former Soviet Officer asked me and my mates if we were Officers in disguise. We laughed, and said that no, we were smarter than the officers.
After a few hours, the Russian Officer moved on. I’m sure he went home and told stories of hundreds of officers pretending to be enlisted. But it told us a lot about the Soviet modeled army. A lot that we had known, but not considered. Enlisted troops were little more than barely trained drones. Able to go where they were told, so long as someone held their hand. And able to shoot if pointed in the right direction.
Information control seems smart. Keep the population behind you. Keep the troops from asking questions. But it costs you a lot more in the long run. Troops standing in dangerous territory because nobody knows that it is dangerous. Troops getting sick and dying because the Leaders decided that they didn’t need to know, and precautions against it are just too much trouble for a bunch of barely trained drones.
Information Control leaves your people with gaps of vital information, like the Chinese who had no idea America had landed on the moon. By the time the incident happened in the book I read, the technology of the Apollo Era was already so obsolete that there had been dozens of books written about it. Nothing about it was secret except a few minor mission parts, where some sort of military technology was being tested, or used. Mostly, it was all known, and if China had exercised a little less control, the Engineers would have known, and been better at their jobs.
Information Control, everything is a secret.
They showed him a paragraph that identified some technology as being derived from the Apollo Moon Landings. These Engineers asked. “Has America gone to the Moon?”
They didn’t know more than twenty years later, that the Americans had landed on the Moon. More than two decades, a full generation later, and they still had not been told by the Chinese Government that the American’s had launched any missions to the Moon. That my friends is information control.
China’s Information Dark Age Could Be Russia’s Future (Published 2022)
Russia and China have the tendency to learn the worst from each other: tyrants, famines, purges and, now, internet censorship.
I read the original story on Hot Air, but it’s behind a paywall, and won’t bother linking.
Now, why is this dangerous? We’ve already seen the dangers. Just in the last few months.
Russian soldiers disturbed radioactive dust at Chernobyl; didn’t wear protective gear, workers say: report
Russian forces have kicked up radioactive dust and disturbed a highly toxic zone around the area of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster site known as the “Red Forest” since capturing the defunct power plant early on in its invasion of Ukraine, workers at the site said.
www.foxnews.com
Russian’s aren’t told about Chernobyl. The Soldiers had no clue that anything bad had happened there. They were ignorant of the dangers, because the Government they served, wanted them to be ignorant.
I’ve taken issue with the American Government for exposing troops to Radioactive Dangers to find out what happened, long term. But we know what happens, now, so even the argument that the American’s didn’t know what they were doing, is lost. And it was bullshit before.
But Russia can’t be made to look bad. Not in a totalitarian society. The State is always right, and good. And this is why the Russians are fed a diet of propaganda day and night. This is why information from the west is restricted. It is said that Truth is the first casualty of war. If so, Russia has been at war for a very long time, because not telling their people about Chernobyl, that’s just inexcusable.
Russia seeks to emulate the Chinese Information Control for their people. That is to take what they are already doing, and restrict information even more. The movie Airplane 2 mocked this trend of totalitarians, when it was still the Soviet Union.
Now, it is funny, but like most funny things, there is an element of truth. Every setback or failure was an opportunity for great things.
When Submarine Snorkels were first adapted, the prototype Russian models had a few flaws. They allowed Diesel Exhaust to be sucked into the submarine. By the time the submarine surfaced, and everyone climbed out, they were suffering from Carbon Monoxide poisoning. Their arms, legs, hands and feet had swelled.
Instead of saying we have a few bugs to work out obviously. The Russians heralded it as proof of the superiority of the New Soviet Man. Yes, the men would meekly submit to being poisoned. How awesome is that?
That is what we are in again. A new Cold War, with a perpetually dishonest and lying Opponent.
I was at Fort Bragg when the wall fell. I was there when a Russian Army Officer arrived to see how the American Paratroopers trained and operated. The officers were shocked. Enlisted men had maps, and could read them. Enlisted men could navigate by maps. Maps were classified items in the Russian Army of the era. They probably still are. Only officers got to see them, and only officers were able to read or navigate by them. While we took troops out and tested them on their ability to navigate by map and compass. Even the lowest ranking privates.
The former Soviet Officer asked me and my mates if we were Officers in disguise. We laughed, and said that no, we were smarter than the officers.
After a few hours, the Russian Officer moved on. I’m sure he went home and told stories of hundreds of officers pretending to be enlisted. But it told us a lot about the Soviet modeled army. A lot that we had known, but not considered. Enlisted troops were little more than barely trained drones. Able to go where they were told, so long as someone held their hand. And able to shoot if pointed in the right direction.
Information control seems smart. Keep the population behind you. Keep the troops from asking questions. But it costs you a lot more in the long run. Troops standing in dangerous territory because nobody knows that it is dangerous. Troops getting sick and dying because the Leaders decided that they didn’t need to know, and precautions against it are just too much trouble for a bunch of barely trained drones.
Information Control leaves your people with gaps of vital information, like the Chinese who had no idea America had landed on the moon. By the time the incident happened in the book I read, the technology of the Apollo Era was already so obsolete that there had been dozens of books written about it. Nothing about it was secret except a few minor mission parts, where some sort of military technology was being tested, or used. Mostly, it was all known, and if China had exercised a little less control, the Engineers would have known, and been better at their jobs.
Information Control, everything is a secret.
