Politics and Hypnosis

Dear readers!

At first glance, it might be difficult to establish a connection between the two words above. Although one belongs to sociology and the other to psychiatry, these two fundamental concepts, when considered together, give rise to a new notion that helps us understand many unknown and inexplicable social phenomena.

In the past, many scientists have addressed these two words together, giving the resulting new definition names such as "Crowd Psychology" or "Group Psychology." Two scientists who have done the most significant work in this field are the Frenchman Gustave Le Bon (1841-1931) and the Austrian-American Wilhelm Reich (1897-1957). Wilhelm Reich's book, "The Mass Psychology of Fascism," in particular, was almost considered a handbook by the left-wing youth of the 1970s and sparked serious debates. However, my aim is not to reiterate the theses or theories of these two thinkers, but to add a new dimension to the relationship between consciousness and the subconscious, and to adapt my resulting thesis to the reality of Türkiye.

HYPNOSIS

As you know, the first association that the word "hypnosis" brings to mind is the concept of the "subconscious." Unfortunately, the concepts of "consciousness" or "subconscious" are not tangible or measurable definitions. Thanks to these concepts, which have emerged and progressively changed with thousands of years of human development, it has been possible to explain many "strange" human behaviors. There is only one point I want to draw your attention to here: The power of the "subconscious" is 6000 times greater than the power of "consciousness." This means that it is not "consciousness" but "subconsciousness" that determines our behaviors, values, and prejudices. Consciousness is merely the part that helps us perceive information directly presented to us by our sensory organs. The subconscious, on the other hand, is the part that accumulates information obtained through consciousness, compares it with past information, classifies information, draws conclusions, and thus determines our true behavior.

Because the subconscious has gained such importance, it has become a field that many psychiatrists have studied and worked on. We can liken the relationship between consciousness and the subconscious to this: Imagine an iceberg moving towards the ocean. Let the submerged, invisible part of this iceberg (the subconscious) be 6000 times larger than its visible part (consciousness). Our subconscious, over which we have no dominion, possesses such extraordinary power. In short, we can draw the following conclusion: "Humankind considers itself a conscious and intelligent creature, yet because its true behaviors and personality are determined by the subconscious, it is in fact a slave to the subconscious."

In individual hypnosis treatments, psychiatrists try to access the patient's subconscious by applying various methods, asking the patient step-by-step and systematic questions to "reprogram" and change subconscious definitions. For example, to a patient like me who is afraid of heights, the subconscious constantly gives a negative command like "you must be afraid of heights," and I am forced to obey this command. A good psychiatrist can certainly find out what triggered the fear of heights by questioning me, and when this information is presented to me at a conscious level, my fear of heights will disappear.

INDIVIDUAL AND SOCIETY (MASS)

Now I will invite you to another definition and reality. In fact, we all experience this reality countless times in our daily lives without realizing it, but because we cannot think systematically, this reality escapes our attention.

If you like, let's do a simple experiment: Let's take three people. All three are unaware of each other and do not know each other. Let's assume that none of these three individuals have ever seen a snake before. Let's assume that the first individual will be afraid when they see the snake, and therefore will want to kill it by picking up a stone; the second individual will stare at it with emotionless eyes as if looking at a tree; and the third individual will feel close enough to the snake to pick it up. Now let's bring the three individuals side by side, that is, let's form a society. Let's place a snake a little distance away from them. What would be the result? A difficult question, isn't it?

Scientists have conducted similar experiments many times. Of course, instead of a snake, they used exotic animals that none of the three individuals had ever seen in their lives. The result was always the same: Each individual told the other two their opinion, there was a discussion, a consensus was reached, and each time the opinion of the one who saw the animal as "dangerous" was accepted, and all three mobilized to kill the animal. This kind of consensus is called "crowd psychology." The subconscious is open to negative propositions and closed to positive propositions. The suggestion of the individual who says, "This animal looks very dangerous, it could kill us," enters the subconscious of the other two individuals, and the subconscious reminds these individuals of all the negative incidents they have experienced in the past. In short, the SUBCONSCIOUS prioritizes NEGATIVE MANIPULATION. We can call this a negative hypnotic suggestion. Therefore, when "crowd psychology," or "negative hypnotic suggestion," is used in the world of politics, terrible consequences arise.

THE WORLD OF POLITICS

Let's start with the most well-known example: Hitler presented the Jews as responsible for Germany's loss in the First World War, high inflation, poverty, etc., to the subconscious of the Germans, and this negative hypnotic suggestion was accepted by the German people's subconscious. With this simple, single-sentence proposition, Hitler caused soldiers to go to the front and to their deaths willingly and fearlessly. In a sense, he enslaved the German people, turning them into robots. Throughout the war, Hitler triggered the subconscious of German soldiers with this motivation, and the soldiers carried out the given orders without questioning the truth of the proposition for a moment, because the subconscious is 6000 times more powerful than consciousness.

Now let's turn to Turkish politics: Which leaders of legal and illegal parties in Türkiye resort to the method of negative hypnotic suggestion?

In the First World War, Enver Pasha took control of the public's subconscious with negative hypnotic suggestions, and it ended in disaster. As if Armenians were responsible for the Sarıkamış disaster, Enver Pasha made a negative proposition: "We will not win the war unless the Armenians are uprooted from Anatolia." The people of Anatolia, civilians and soldiers alike, collectively accepted this negative hypnotic suggestion and acted accordingly. We all know the outcome and what happened. In subsequent years, the people of Anatolia did not engage in a conscientious self-criticism, as if they had played no role in these events. In the second stage, this time he put forward the negative suggestion, "We must establish the Turan state, otherwise we will perish," and tried to gather the masses around him with this negative hypnotic suggestion, which also ended in disaster.

Mustafa Kemal Atatürk never resorted to negative hypnotic suggestions; he shared the right and wrong with the public from the parliamentary rostrum. He avoided hypnotic rhetoric with negative content. He addressed reality in all its aspects, defining his goals with both their pros and cons.

In contemporary Türkiye, two leaders have enslaved the subconscious of the people with negative hypnotic suggestions, turning them into robots, and preventing individuals from evaluating events. One of these leaders is the founder and leader of a legal party, and the other is the founder and leader of an illegal party. These two important figures are Mr. Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, the Chairman of the AK Party, and Abdullah Öcalan, the leader of the PKK (and in a sense, the HDP).

Our esteemed President has embedded the concept of "New Ottoman" into the subconscious of the voters. "If we do not strengthen our position in countries and regions inherited from the Ottomans, such as Iraq, Syria, Libya, and the Balkans, we will be ruined! They will tear us apart and swallow us!" The voter has bought into this negative hypnotic suggestion, embedded it in their subconscious, and accepted the proposition without individual evaluation. Our esteemed President has systematically eliminated his comrades who wanted to prioritize individual thought and evaluation within the party.

Abdullah Öcalan, since the establishment of the PKK, has imposed the discourse of "Greater Kurdistan" on the subconscious of his militants, taking control of the will of the Kurdish people. "If we cannot establish Greater Kurdistan, we are ruined! They will assimilate the Kurds and erase them from history!" PKK supporters and militants have been motivated by unconditionally accepting this negative hypnotic suggestion, legitimizing the injustices they experienced and witnessed, the village massacres, and executions, and isolating any individual within the party by declaring them a "traitor." Party supporters, whose right to individual evaluation has been taken away, continue to live in an adventure with an unknown end, still under the influence of negative hypnotic suggestions. Since the establishment of the organization, Abdullah Öcalan has systematically eliminated his comrades within the PKK who wanted to prioritize individual thought and evaluation.

CONCLUSION

Only when Hitler lost the war and committed suicide could the German people escape hypnosis and have the chance to make individual evaluations. By saying, "What have we done!" and admitting their mistake, they were able to establish a strong democracy through a process of conscientious self-examination.

It is possible to say that when their negative hypnotic suggestions lose importance, the end of the AK Party and the PKK will result in disappointment and pain, leaving millions of disillusioned people behind. We can say that true democracy in Türkiye will be established when individuals evaluate events not through "crowd psychology" but through their own individual assessment. Historical data proves that negative hypnotic suggestions are bound to crumble and disappear one day. Some academics make evaluations such as, "Such and such a party has so many millions of voters, we must respect their choice." I would like to remind you that if the votes cast are given under the influence of negative hypnotic suggestions, they have no democratic value.

As long as the AK Party and the PKK do not withdraw from the political scene, it seems impossible for Türkiye to achieve true democracy.