Hammer and Tickle (2006)
prospectmagazine.co.uk
prospectmagazine.co.uk
"What American propaganda techniques?" asks the American.
"Exactly," the Russian replies.
Some poor downtrodden men in Leningrad during the height of the Cold War have been hearing about all the wonderful jobs, weather, and food in Siberia. They are eager to move there but they are wary that it might be a trick, and that once there they won’t be allowed to leave. They agree that one of them should go first and write a letter concealing a secret message back to his comrades in Leningrad. If the letter is written in black ink, then life in Siberia is excellent and the others should come. But if it’s written in red ink, then what they’ve been told is all lies.
Soon they get a letter from the comrade who volunteered to be the first to go to Siberia. It’s in black ink. They eagerly read his glowing report about life in Siberia, the good jobs, comfortable weather, and bountiful food. Their friend finishes his letter by mentioning that there’s just one thing he hasn’t been able to find: red ink.
After WW II, the Soviet Union urged former residents to return. One family member, with wife and children decided to take them up on the offer. He did not really believe that he could write candidly about conditions, and so they agreed that he should send a picture. If he was standing up, things were well, and the rest of the family should consider returning. If he was sitting down, things were no good, and the rest of the family should remain where they were.
When they received the picture, he was lying down.
https://d-scholarship.pitt.edu/9560/1/grahamsethb_etd2003.pd...
(Ouch!)
I've been immersed in shortages for the past two years (try to go buy a car for MSRP), why some UK paper is writing about some far away, long ago shortage I don't know (well actually I do know).
Where you were previously offered bonuses and free stuff, now they would be insincere about what's in stock, how many does is actually cost, distribute the best stuff cost-wise among inner circle, try to shave a random extra amount of money from you.
As you can see you don't need any kind of especially corrupt souls once incentives are wrong.
Don't compare UK shortages with what the Eastern Bloc went through. They had people going to surgery without anesthesia. You'll manage with your existing car for a bit more.
Some people (occupations such as arctic coal miner) had financial means to do so easily. Other people (notably, engineers on non-management positions like most of HN readers today) would never realistically afford one.
The choice was indeed very limited. But again, it is mostly a quantitative difference.
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Under Brexit, every family gets what they need. That's why Tesco puts a sign up that says "nobody needs groceries today."
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What did Great Britain use to light its homes with before using candles?
Electricity.
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Q: Why is Brexit superior to Europe?
A: Because it heroically overcomes problems that would not exist if we'd stayed in.
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At a party meeting, a Conservative party officer is drilling a local worker. He asks him: “Fellow Briton, if you had two houses, would you give one to the Conservative Party?”
The worker responds “Yes, definitely, fellow Briton, I would give one of my houses to the party!”
Then he asks “Fellow Briton, if you had two cars, would you give one to the party?”
Again, the worker says, “Yes, I would give one of my cars to the party!”
Finally, the officer asks, “If you had two shirts, would you give one to the party?”
“No!”
The officer asks “But why? Why won’t you give one of your shirts to the party?”
The worker says: “Because I HAVE two shirts!”
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A schoolboy wrote in his weekly essay: “My cat just had seven kittens. They’re all Brexiters.”
The following week, the boy wrote: “my cat’s kittens are all Remainers.”
The teacher called him up and asked him to explain the sudden change. “Last week, you said they were all Brexiters!”
The boy nodded. “They were, but this week they all opened their eyes.”
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A man walks into Sainsbury's. He asks the shop assistant, “You don’t have any meat?” The assistant says, “No, here we don’t have any fish. The counter that doesn’t have any meat is across the store.”
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A European fairy tale begins, "Once upon a time, there was...." A Brexit fairy tale begins, "Once we're through all of this, there will be...."
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Great Britain is the most progressive country in the world. Life was already better yesterday than it's going to be tomorrow.
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