In the story, the husband attempts to convince his wife and others that she is insane by manipulating small elements of their environment and insisting that she is mistaken, remembering things incorrectly, or delusional when she points out these changes.
The play's title alludes to how the abusive husband slowly dims the gas lights in their home, while pretending nothing has changed, in an effort to make his wife doubt her own perceptions. The wife repeatedly asks her husband to confirm her perceptions about the dimming lights, but in defiance of reality, he keeps insisting that the lights are the same and instead it is she who is going insane.
Today, we are living in a perpetual state of gaslighting. The reality that what we are being told by the media is at complete odds with what we are seeing with our own two eyes. And when we question the false reality ... we are vilified as racist or bigots or just plain crazy. You're not racist. You're not crazy. You're being gaslighted.
(Gov. Cuomo got an Emmy for his Covid briefings, recognition for his acting.)
New York State has twice as many deaths from Covid-19 than any other state, and New York has accounted for one fifth of all Covid-19 deaths, but we are told that New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has handled the pandemic better than any other governor. But if we support policies of Governors whose states had only a fraction of the infections and deaths as New York, we're called anti-science and want people to die. So, we ask ourselves, am I crazy? No, you're being gaslighted.
riots are good when minorities do them
We see mobs of people looting stores, smashing windows, setting cars on fire and burning down buildings, but we are told that these demonstrations are peaceful protests, and when we call this destruction of our cities, riots, we are called racists. So, we ask ourselves, am I crazy? No, you're being gaslighted.
defund the police
We see the major problem destroying many inner-cities is crime; murder, gang violence, drug dealing, drive-by shootings, armed robbery, but we are told that it is not crime, but the police that are the problem in the inner-cities. We are told we must defund the police and remove law enforcement from crime-riddled cities to make them safer But if we advocate for more policing in cities overrun by crime, we are accused of being white supremacists and racists. So, we ask ourselves, am I crazy? No, you're being gaslighted.
systemic racism
The United States of America accepts more immigrants than any other country in the world. The vast majority of the immigrants are "people of color", and these immigrants are enjoying freedom and economic opportunity not available to them in their country of origin, but we are told that the United States is the most racist and oppressive country on the planet, and if we disagree, we are called racist and xenophobic. So, we ask ourselves, am I crazy? No, you're being gaslighted.
free enterprise is bad
Capitalist countries are the most prosperous countries in the world. The standard of living is the highest in capitalist countries. We see more poor people move up the economic ladder to the middle and even the wealthy class through their effort and ability in capitalist countries than any other economic system in the world, but we are told capitalism is an oppressive system designed to keep people down. So, we ask ourselves, am I crazy? No, you're being gaslighted.
communism is good
Communist countries killed over 100 million people in the 20th century. Communist countries strip their citizens of basic human rights, dictate every aspect of their lives, treat their citizens as slaves, and drive their economies into the ground, but we are told that Communism is the fairest, most equitable, freest, and most prosperous economic system in the world. So, we ask ourselves, am I crazy? No, you're being gaslighted.
WHITE FRAGILITY
The most egregious example of gaslighting is the concept of "white fragility". You spend your life trying to be a good person, trying to treat people fairly and with respect. You disavow racism and bigotry in all its forms. You judge people solely on the content of their character and not by the color of their skin. You don't discriminate based on race or ethnicity.
But you are told you are a racist, not because of something you did or said, but solely because of the color of your skin. You know instinctively that charging someone with racism because of their skin color is itself racist. You know that you are not racist, so you defend yourself and your character, but you are told that your defense of yourself is proof of your racism. So, we ask ourselves, am I crazy? No, you're being gaslighted.
CONCLUSION
Gaslighting has become one of the most pervasive and destructive tactics in American politics. It is the exact opposite of what our political system was meant to be. It deals in lies and psychological coercion, and not the truth and intellectual discourse. If you ever ask yourself if you're crazy, you are not. Crazy people aren't sane enough to ask themselves if they're crazy. So, trust yourself, believe what's in your heart. Trust your eyes over what you are told. Never listen to the people who tell you that you are crazy, because you are not, you're being gaslighted.
Sophocles said: "What people believe prevails over the truth." And that's what the media are trying to exploit.
Thanks to Eliezer
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First Comment from Tony B
"Anonymous" himself is gaslighted in one instance.
Capitalist countries are in no way "the most prosperous in the world" where "poor people can move up the economic ladder through their own effort and ability." This sometimes occurs in nations under free enterprise but that form of economy is 180 degrees OPPOSITE of capitalism, which ALWAYS morphs into MONOPOLY CAPITALISM. Today the U.S. is considered to be the most capitalistic nation in the world, which is probably true. But the common citizen here can no longer live outside of debt. There are millions of homeless people on the streets who have no assurance of a next meal and this "prosperous nation" itself is deeper in debt that the value of the whole world combined as listed today.
Trump's biggest brag is how prosperous he has made the nation in four years. NO! Only the fraction of one percent have gained by trillions of tax paid dollars while the working citizen is ever deeper in debt poverty. All aspects of government are just as guilty of the pauperization of America as Trump because ALL are now owned by the REAL CAPITALISTS, THE BANKING FRANCHISES OF THE ROTHSCHILD CABAL, which now own the world.
Who does "Anonymous" think is the paymaster putting out trillions for the satanic myrmidons activating the evils now suffered world wide via the phoney pandemic and the economic destruction needed to establish the mis-called "reset?" The wealth is now so much concentrated in that tiny number of capitalists that they can buy any election - as we have just witnessed, and any government or government agenda - as we are about to witness.
Free Enterprise is NOT capitalism. Capitalism is the concentration of credit and wealth into the hands of the few - now the very few - who create the medium of exchange as debt owed to them, a simple conveyor belt of ALL wealth into their hands, destroying progressively all small businesses in the process - while free enterprise is a system of local businesses taking care of local business, hiring local people known to them and keeping the exchange medium circulating in the local economic community, creating a huge middle class of comfortable families but almost no paupers or super rich.
This was the system under which the U.S. began which was, even as colonies, economically attacked by the capitalistic Bank of England which led to a war for Independence from such capitalistic slavery. Unfortunately, it didn't take long for capitalism to once more use its "bank credit" to enslave the hard working American, gradually reducing his means, enslaving his creative abilities with the same old debt pretending to be money scam.
Though a very short and incomplete description, it should show all that this whole process is in your face gaslighting from cradle to grave.
Robert K said (January 15, 2021):
The technique of gaslighting is cognitive dissonance, which, being absorbed by the subconscious, leaves the mind in a state of paralysis. Once you realize clearly that your informational environment is created for this purpose, you can do much to protect yourself from its influence. There are literally armies of agents working to sow confusion everywhere by means of cognitive dissonance--and probably, by now, "information"-generating AI programs are creating masses of it automatically.