Perception management is today's most effective weapon

Even if a country is not governed well, perception can be used to give the impression that it is governed much better than it is. Information can be produced and put into widespread use. Society can even be drowned in information (regardless of whether it is true or false) in a spiral of information of uncertain origin. This is because information is fluid and, like water flows, it reaches the channels it needs to reach and flows in its own channel to reach the finest capillaries of society. 

One of the weakest points of repressive regimes in the world is the inability to prevent the fluidity of information. If the fluidity of information cannot be prevented, this is what remains for governments: Even if the undesirable truths are known, the people should not believe it, and if they do, they should not care, and they should be made to support the government in any case. We all believe that "the truth has a habit of coming out sooner or later". Indeed, in the course of our lives, we all experience this through small or big events. For this reason, the motto that the truth will come out one day expresses a generally accepted phenomenon today. 

In countries where law and democracy have been shelved, I suggest adding the following clause to this pithy sentence; "but the consequences of these revealed truths vary according to countries and societies!" 

Even if it is known that national feelings and religious deception will one day be exposed, the rulers will continue to hide and change the facts in order to maintain their power smoothly. The public is unlikely to see the truth and some of the most prominent developments through press and media sources. Those who cannot learn about what is happening in the country from the so-called controlled or opposition press turn to foreign media sources and somehow get informed. Strict censorship of the press and social media, which work under instructions, and the law enforcement agencies, which have the privilege to use violence on behalf of the state, can only prevent the learning and dissemination of facts to a certain extent. Despite this reality, how does perception management in this age ensure that significant segments of the public support the government under all circumstances? 

There is one area in which repressive regimes all over the world have successfully applied "perception management" to ensure popular support. As I have mentioned in my previous articles, the issue most emphasized by governments that have lost their capacity and ability to govern the country is the management of social perception. When the governments have no bright future to promise in order to regain the social and political support they have lost. And they themselves know this the most. The current negativity needs to be based on virtual hypothetical facts and a rosy picture needs to be painted. There is usually no other option but to blame "foreign powers" for the broken economy, rising exchange rates and unemployment! Criticizing foreign policies immediately becomes "treason". 

The miraculous apparatus that produces all these practical but hollow answers and ensures that they are believed is called social perception management. Today, in despotic forms of governance. Even if the deteriorating realities in the country in every field could not be changed, changing the perception of these realities in the eyes of the public was already the main endeavor of the rulers. It must be admitted that they are quite successful in this regard. Otherwise, would they have been able to maintain their position for so long despite everything? They attach so much importance to the issue of perception management, on which they build the future of their power, that even perception management centers are established in some countries. We use a foreign word for this in the vernacular and call it "troll" for short. 

In order for some countries in the world to maintain their oppressive regimes, the realization of these goals and objectives requires that statistics and figures are brought to a certain consistency by the state. A significant part of the public does not believe all the figures and statistical information announced by the state for very good reasons. The justification for concealing or distorting the truth on almost every issue is simple for those in power: The national interests of the country.

In order for the government's perception management of the political survival issue as "the national interests of the country" to be successful, the public must be made to believe that things that seem bad are actually good and necessary, and they must be made to think like this. "Whatever our state and government are doing inside and outside, it is absolutely necessary for the unity, solidarity and survival of the country." We must stand behind the government under all circumstances for the sake of our state and our national interests, for our flag not to come down, and those who think and claim otherwise are traitors. 

The government, which is as hard as a wall, which sees and tries to show that concrete and undeniable facts do not exist, needs to use the communication mechanism, which is the only option left and which works, very effectively. Therefore, they have no other choice but to continue to use the state means at their disposal to the fullest and to rely more and more on the communication and perception apparatus. The only thing that people living in such countries should do is to stay on the path of reason and true knowledge. Because the references of reason, science and real knowledge distort all kinds of perceptions.

With respect and love