February 27, 2024

“start small and build”

1:35 PM

“For instance, prisoners were frequently asked to make statements so mildly anti-American or pro-Communist that they seemed inconsequential (such as “The United States is not perfect” and “In a Communist country, unemployment is not a problem”). Once these minor requests had been complied with, however, the men found themselves pushed to submit to related, yet more substantive, requests. A man who had just agreed with his Chinese interrogator that the United States was not perfect might then be asked to indicate some of the ways he believed this was the case. Once he had so explained, he might be asked to make a list of these “problems with America” and sign his name to it. Later, he might be asked to read his list in a discussion group with other prisoners. “After all, it’s what you believe, isn’t it?” Still later, he might be asked to write an essay expanding on his list and discussing these problems in greater detail.”

1:36 PM