State of Confusion: Political Manipulation and the Assault on the American Mind | 
 enlarge | Author: Bryant Welch
Publisher: Thomas Dunne Books
Category: Book
List Price: $25.95
Buy New: $14.32
You Save: $11.63 (45%)
New (25) Used (9) from $14.17
Avg. Customer Rating:  11 reviews
Sales Rank: 27784
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 304
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.9
Dimensions (in): 8.3 x 5.3 x 1.3
ISBN: 0312373066
Dewey Decimal Number: 155.8973
EAN: 9780312373061
ASIN: 0312373066
Publication Date: June 10, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
|
| Also Available In:
|
| Similar Items:
|
| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
Finally, the answer to the many questions that have been preying on the minds of millions of Americans has arrived. Why are Americans so vulnerable to divisive political tactics? Why did Americans get dragged into such an unwise war in Iraq? Why do fundamentalist religious groups, Fox News, and right-wing radio still play such influential roles in America’s political landscape? And why are long-accepted rational scientific ideas like evolution under siege? These questions hold America’s future in the balance. Ultimately, they are questions about the American mind. Psychologist-attorney Dr. Bryant Welch has the answers.
If America is going to change the mind-set that led us to war in Iraq and left us unable to confront our serious national problems, this book is vitally important. Drawing on his unique experience both as a clinical psychologist and a Washington, D.C., political figure with the American Psychological Association, Dr. Welch shows how the long-term effects of sophisticated new forms of political manipulation have not only led to our debacle in Iraq but are also currently undercutting America’s ability to address its very serious problems. In the 1944 movie Gaslight, a husband drives his wife to the brink of insanity by playing games with her sense of reality. Just as in the movie, America’s most recent political “gaslighters,” such as George W. Bush, Karl Rove, Rush Limbaugh, Ann Coulter, and many religious leaders, have generated and exploited confusion in the minds of countless Americans.
Gaslighters prey on their victim’s vulnerability to paranoia, sexual perplexity, and envy to undermine the mind’s ability to function rationally. Welch examines why millions of Americans, in response to such assaults, subconsciously and dangerously create their own simplistic reality, even if it is completely different from the more complex reality of the world.
Most important, State of Confusion explains how and why Americans must act now to fight back against this harmful manipulation before it’s too late. Dr. Welch’s exploration of the American mind is both fascinating and frightening, and State of Confusion is a must-read for everyone who cares about the future of this great country.
|
| Customer Reviews: Read 6 more reviews...
 Psychoanalyst/Attorney analyzes voters November 5, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
The author is an attorney (Harvard) and clinical psychologist (UNC) how has psychoanalytic training and Washington DC political experience who brings his diverse background together in an analysis of the success of the Bush/Rove campaigns which he attributes to psychological manipulation of the electorate. A fascinating book for anyone interested in psychotherapy and the processes underlying psychological voter's emotional reactions. A stimulating and readable exposition of psychoanalytic thinking that is appropriate for the lay reader and peppered with the history of recent presidential campaigns including an account of the author's college debate with John Kerry. A pro-Democrat book that may not appeal to the religious right of the Republican party.
An incredibly interesting read October 6, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
As a psychotherapist, I was fascinated by this book. Dr. Welch is able to explain some of the most complicated psychological concepts in very clear and logical fashion. It connects the mind to the current American political crisis, like no other book I have ever read. He explains why we were so irrational after 9/11, why sexuality has become such a political third rail in American politics, and why negative campaigning works even though everyone claims they hate it. Anyone with a psychological orientation to the world will love it!
Understanding the Brain Washing America September 16, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
Bryant Welch is an insightful psychologist and experienced political activist and fast becoming one of the most important new voices in American Journalism today.
His book, State of Confusion calls out the Bush Regime, the possible forthcoming Palin Presidency and the bullies at Fox News for employing the same tactics as the Psy-Ops Strategies imposed by the government in George Orwell's classic book 1984.
The Lee Atwater/Karl Rove/Roger Ailes Psy-ops maneuver is exposed for what it is - and the corporate media (which controls most book reviews) isn't eager to publicize a book that posits that a large segment of the American population (you can find a chunk of them regularly watching FOX News) have been brainwashed, emotionally manipulated, and embedded with a false sense of reality.
Bryant Welch revels why so many Americans are living in an alternative reality created by the demonic Thought Police (Atwater, Rove, Ailes) of the Republican Party. He shows how Americans have been emotionally and psychologically manipulated by a "manufactured reality" of the right wing consortium by using think tanks, public relations spin, advertising techniques, corporate media, psychological tactics, politicians, and twisted religious leaders.
Who can ever forget the "Two Minutes of Hate" in George Orwell's Classic 1984? Every citizen was required to assemble together in front of a large Tele-screen every day so that the government would show videos of our enemies and we were to focus our hate on them and chant slogans for two minutes every day. These slogans are now replaced by Fox News code words such as Prayer. You know, as Sarah Palin says, lets pray for the completion of the Alaskan Drilling Projects - and pray that no wolves or bears get in her way - for they will surely learn about the vengeance of god.
Thank you Dr. Welch for such a thoughtful and critical analysis explaining the false reality that at least of Americans live in today.
 Disappointing September 13, 2008
0 out of 2 found this review helpful
Though I agree with Welch's view of the right-wing movement, too much of the book appears overly facile and superficial. Take for example this excerpt from Welch's discussion of envy as a necessary part of the human condition. "All human achievement as well as much destructive human aggression is a reflection of envy." (P. 252). Now, this is a sweeping conclusion, to say the least, about the connection between envy and human achievement. It also strikes me as just plain wrong. This morning it took me an hour to draw a little picture-- a minor achievement, for sure, but an achievement nonetheless. More importantly, I did it for the sheer pleasure of doing it. There are many, more significant examples of non-envious achievements from all walks of life. Welch is not just wrong in this case, but factually wrong, unless, that is, he resorts to playing games with a vague term like "reflection" which, to his credit, he gives no indication of doing.
The problem with the book is not just this one egregious example, but that the entire work consists of little more than a series of bald assertions: some common-sense, some speculative, and others just plain arguable. As a result, there is a general lack of grounding of key statements beyond their simple assertion and how well they fit into the general story he tells. For example, I agree that envy is a very potent force in our hierarchical competitive economy, but must we agree that it's envy that "creates our motivation to work and be producive." (p. 105) Again, a big load for envy to carry and another sweeping assertion that goes unargued. Moreover, it's not clear to me that envy is in fact "a necessary part of the human condition." (p.252) On the contrary, it can be argued that desiring what others have arises in those cultures that emphasize property and status, but not in those that don't. Now, perhaps in the last analysis Welch is right. Nonetheless, the problem here is that there is not even a first analysis, just an assertion.
Now, I'm certainly in agreement with his view of the political right-wing. Their movement is becoming ever more solipsistic as the facts go against them. But I picked up the book, hoping to gain more insight than what I found. To be sure, the text does contain points of interest and is an easy read-- though I'm not sure the latter is a point in its favor. All in all, however, I found the book both oddly comforting and definitely disappointing.
A "must-read" for every caring, thinking voter August 31, 2008
5 out of 5 found this review helpful
If you're interested in -- or just curious about -- how the US got where it now is in Iraq and among the nations of the world, you need to read this book. It explains how the "gaslighters" [Karl Rove, Fox News, Rush Limbaugh, etc] manipulated the minds of American citizens, increasing their vulnerability after 9/11, to make Americans more dependent on "their" brand of reality and to enable their agenda to be achieved. They warped American citizens' ability to "think," and discredited those persons and professions that could foster "clearer" thinking and decision-making. The psychological explanations are invaluable tools for helping readers identify similar on-going manipulations from the current Presidential campaigns. State of Confusion: Political Manipulation and the Assault on the American Mind
|
|
|
