This is the essence of authoritarianism. This is also the point of propaganda in the reverse direction.
You can prove your unlimited power over someone when they choose to willingly believe something they know to be a lie.
You can prove your unlimited power over your vassals when they willingly repeat something they know to be a lie.
You can prove your unlimited power over your enemies when they willingly repeat something they know to be a lie, simply to 'keep the peace'.
Whatever you do, always remember that "Better Dead Than Red" isn't an ideological position, it's a statement of fact. The killing fields of Cambodia are filled to the brim with party loyalists. Anti-Leftists were forced into the ocean, and they still fared better than the people who stayed. Speak the truth, and only the truth. You will be kicked in the face for it by Leftists, their vassals, and their slaves; but you are going to be a lot better off than they will be.
This is the essence of authoritarianism. This is also the point of propaganda in the reverse direction.
You can prove your unlimited power over someone when they choose to willingly believe something they know to be a lie.
You can prove your unlimited power over your vassals when they willingly repeat something they know to be a lie.
You can prove your unlimited power over your enemies when they willingly repeat something they know to be a lie, simply to 'keep the peace'.
Whatever you do, always remember that "Better Dead Than Red" isn't an ideological position, it's a statement of fact. The killing fields of Cambodia are filled to the brim with party loyalists. Anti-Leftists were forced into the ocean, and they still fared better than the people who stayed. Speak the truth, and only the truth. You will be kicked in the face for it by Leftists, their vassals, and their slaves; but you are going to be a lot better off than they will be.