This, from “Dreams Die Hard” by the late David Harris, is a chilling look at love-bombing followed by setting someone up to fail… If they taught this stuff in school – “how elites and charlatans manipulate you”, alongside courses in understanding corporate and state propaganda and lies, we might not be in quite the same mess we are in…
Another veteran of that primary recalled what they called the “wonder kid” phenomenon:
(Harris, 1982:240-241-242)
It was just this thing that Allard did over and over, it seemed like once a week almost. He would be out in one of the local offices, say in Massapequa, and would find some young guy stapling leaflets or something and Allard would discover him. I mean he would say things like “”How could someone with your talent be stapling leaflets?” and immediately he pulled him off that job and put him to work driving him around. In that spot, Allard was pretty overwhelming for some 19 -or 20- [page break] year-old guy. They got to be privy to Al’s meetings with big-time politicians, see all his influence up close. Inevitably at some point, when the wonder kid’s worship of Allard was at its peak, he would be given some hopelessly difficult task to do like “Go see politician X and get me on the delegate list” or “Z and Y are tellinG incredible lies about me. Go find them and put a stop to it.” THe tasks were always beyond what the wonder kids could do, and so inevitably they failed and had to come back and report their inadequacy to Allard. They always felt terrible. That was followed by rejection. Allard was upset – not angry, ust disappointed. Usually the wonder kind would be assigned to do something besides drive Allard for a while. Then, usually after a few days, he would forgive him and accept him back. I mean, from the wonder kid’s point of view, the debt you owe that kind of “understanding” and “generosity” is immeasurable. “Hooked is a mild word for the effect. It was a pattern of control that was beyond belief.”
marchudson.net 
Marc, sad to say, this use of the “manipulation technique” was never taught at the schools I went to. But Harris was right, the people are being manipulated every day, I’d ask, over many years in many wars, how many knew what they were really dying for?
With the great leap (forward?) in social media, mass manipulation is becoming the norm, assisted by the decline in education standards. methinks we are all doomed.
I doubt there are many schools, anywhere ever, where this stuff is taught (but obviously I hope I am wrong) Yes, we’re all doomed…!!