How to Divide and Rule

There has it seems been much discussion about the intensity of the nasty comments and downright hatred directed towards benefit claimants on social media following TV programmes such as "Benefits Street" and "Don't Cap My Benefits". Lots of people are sickened by the lack of compassion and empathy, and indeed by the sheer scale of the brutal comments aimed at benefit claimants.

There is an explanation to all of this. Just suppose that the government had decided their ideology was against the provision of a social security safety net for the most vulnerable members of our society. They want to dismantle it but need to make sure that the majority of the electorate do not turn against them.

Now let us suppose that the government were able to influence the news media to instigate a persistent campaign to stereotype benefit claimants in some negative way, perhaps "undeserving" or "skivers" or "getting money for nothing". If this were successful in changing public perceptions, the government might be able to effect its desired cuts against these people without fear of a backlash of public opinion, or of losing too many votes.

This is how prejudices are managed for political ends. This is how politicians set us against each other to distract from what they are really doing:

"...it is perhaps surprising how easily stereotypes and stereotype threats are established, even in artificial conditions. Jane Elliott, an American schoolteacher, conducted an experiment with her students in 1968, in an effort to teach them about racial inequality and injustice. She told them that scientists had shown that people with blue eyes were more intelligent and more likely to succeed than people with brown eyes, who were lazy and stupid. She divided her class into blue‐eyed and brown‐eyed groups, and gave the blue‐eyed group extra privileges, praise and attention. The blue‐eyed group quickly asserted its superiority over the brown ‐eyed children, treating them contemptuously, and their school performance improved. The brown‐eyed group just as quickly adopted a submissive timidity, and their marks declined. After a few days, Elliott told the children she had got the information mixed up and that actually it was brown eyes that indicated superiority. The classroom situation rapidly reversed."

[Wilkinson, Richard; Pickett, Kate. The Spirit Level: Why Equality is Better for Everyone]