September 16th, 2024
The Protocols of the Elders of Zion is a book that shows the policies that people wanted to be enforced around 1920. The policies eliminate the orginality and unity of the people while also seperating their trust from the current government in hopes of pushing them toward their cause. Throughout the reading Protocols of the Elders of Zion, I was able to find two themes that I think summarize the book pretty well… Don’t trust the governement or the masses.
Don’t Trust the Government or Masses
Starting off on page one you can see the stance that this group of people have on government and people’s influence in society and politics. On page one they say, “People with corrupt instincts are more numerous than those with instinct.” They go onto claim that the demise of people have turned the world to violence. Also including that every man is power hungry and would be a dictator if it meant they could have more power or authority over people. This tactic is used first in this book because right of the bat it seperates people from society. The biggest threat to an extreme power takeover like this one would be revolution, and revolution can only happen if people trust each other. If no one trusts each other than there can be no takeover of power because no one wants to share ideas for fear of persecution. This situation and tactic reminds me of the George Orwell’s social science fiction, 1984. 1984 is about a man named Winston who doesn’t agree with the oppresive government of Oceania, but tries to start a revolution with his love interest and friend. His friend ends up being an undercover cop for the governement and turns him in. Oceania takes everything that could make someone unique away such as love, joy, and religion much like the regulations in the Protocols of the Elders of Zion. On page 22 the text comes up with plans of how they will “Opress and eliminate the Christian faith.” prooving that everyone can only obey the party that they control not other governments or Gods. The government is deemed as nontrustworthey starting on page three, “…politics have nothing in common with morals.” and then again on page twelve, “Rights of the people can only exist in ideas which are not applicable in practice.” I think these two quotes show that their job is to try and seperate the trust of the people and the current government. They are saying that the ideals the government is saying that they are providing for you (rights of the people) are not realistic, then they go on to say that this new government and policies have their best interest at heart. By gaslighting the people in believing this, they will obtain new members to support their cause and do the dirty work of revolting for them.