On Inhumanity Quotes

“The spread of ideologies should be seen as something akin to cognitive epidemics.”
― David Livingstone Smith, On Inhumanity: Dehumanization and How to Resist It

“Like religion, politics traffics in and plays upon our deepest hopes and fears. And like religion, authoritharian political propaganda works by first making us feel endangered and then offering us a way to escape form our feelings of helplessness.”
― David Livingstone Smith, On Inhumanity: Dehumanization and How to Resist It

“Beware of attempts to destroy the credibility of media outlets that oppose and expose the dehumanizing propaganda of those in power.”
― David Livingstone Smith, On Inhumanity: Dehumanization and How to Resist It

“It's through media that dehumanizing ideas are spread and reproduced. That's why totalitarians puts a premium on destroying freedom of the press.”
― David Livingstone Smith, On Inhumanity: Dehumanization and How to Resist It

“It's through media that dehumanizing ideas are spread and reproduced. That's why totalitarians out a premium on destroying freedom of the press.”
― David Livingstone Smith, On Inhumanity: Dehumanization and How to Resist It

“The practice of explicitly describing others as less than humans is nowadays often frowned upon and is widely condemned. So propagandists who cultivate dehumanizing attitudes most often do this indirectly. Rather than overtly referring to a group of people as animals or monsters, they describe them in ways that invoke this image in the minds of their listeners.
There are certain themes that reappear over and over in this dehumanizing discourse.

The common one is criminality. The dehumanized group is made to appear inherently threatening and their criminality is represented as crudely animalistic typically involving rape and murder.

Another common theme is parasitism. The dehumanized group conspires to exploit the majority sucking the blood out of decent, hard-working people and claiming privileges that they haven't earned.

Images of filth and disease are also very frequent. Dehumanised groups are vectors of infection, they are dirty and contaminating. They are often thought of as invaders, outsiders who are taking us over. They are reproducing at an alarming rate and they will soon outnumber us unless we do something about it.”
― David Livingstone Smith, On Inhumanity: Dehumanization and How to Resist It