The Rape of the Mind

The Psychology of Thought Control, Menticide, and Brainwashing

By: Dr. Joost A.M. Meerloo

Narrated by: Chris Matthews

Length: 10 hrs and 23 mins

Publisher's summary

Since 1933, when a completely drugged and trial-conditioned human wreck confessed to having started the Reichstag fire in Berlin, Dr. Joost A. M. Meerloo has studied the methods by which systematic mental pressure brings people to abject submission, and by which totalitarians imprint their subjective "truth" onto their victims' minds. The first two-and-one-half years of WWII Dr. Meerloo spent under the pressure of Nazi-occupied Holland, witnessing firsthand the Nazi methods of mental torture on more than one occasion.

Then, after personal experiences with enforced interrogation, he escaped from a Nazi prison and certain death to England, where he was able, as Chief of the Psychological Department of the Netherlands Forces, to observe and study coercive methods officially.

After the war, he came to the United States. As more and more cases of thought control, brainwashing, and mental coercion were disclosed - Cardinal Mindszenty, Colonel Schwable, Robert Vogeler, and others - his interest grew. It was Dr. Meerloo who coined the word menticide, the killing of the spirit, for this peculiar crime.

It is Dr. Meerloo's position that through pressure on the weak points in men's makeup, totalitarian methods can turn anyone into a "traitor". And in The Rape of the Mind, he goes far beyond the direct military implications of mental torture to describing how our own culture unobtrusively shows symptoms of pressurizing people's minds. He presents a systematic analysis of the methods of brainwashing, mental torture, and coercion, and shows how totalitarian strategy, with its use of mass psychology, leads to systematized "rape of the mind".

He describes the new age of Cold War with its mental terror, verbocracy, and semantic fog, the use of fear as a tool of mass submission, and the problem of treason and loyalty, so loaded with dangerous confusion. The Rape of the Mind is written for the interested layman, not only for experts and scientists.

©2022 Joost Meerloo (P)2022 Joost Meerloo

A Must Read

This originally published 1956 couldn’t be anymore applicable today in 2023. We’re living in totally Totalitaria. Had this, and it should have been, part of mainstay educational class required reading and study we might have a different society. But then again that’s not what the educational system is all about these days and quite the contrary of what this book teaches.

a must read

a vital read for those looking to better understand what tries to control us and what we must do as humans to be ready and capable in the face of those seeking absolute power over others.

Incredibly Relevant

It is amazing this book is so on point some 60 plus years after first being released. The chapter on technology may be more relevant than when it was written due to the influence of social media. Provides fascinating insight to how our society has reached the current state. There are parallels to both the so called left and the right here. Well worth listening to.

Mental eye-opener!!

I must listen to this several times; so much to try to understand and absorb. I enjoyed the listen tremendously.

Very educational

Very educational. I had hoped it would have been more of a practical guide though, sth like "here's how you recognize brainwashing and here's how you practice resisting it". Perhaps that was asking too much. Otherwise a really, really good book, and an absolutely necessary one in this day and age!

Atrocious narration can't kill this book

Chris Williamson is the absolute worst narrator I have heard in 30 years of listening to audio books. Despite the emotionally disconnected and childlike presentation; this is still one of the most important and interesting books ever written. Critical information in 2022.

Eye opening

Comfortable reader’s voice, useful information. Still relevant. everyone should read this book. Explains a lot.

Powerful history written by one involved in the twentieth century

Mankind and governments have not changed since this book was written. Science is shown repeatedly used to control and mislead people, Governments and businesses using techniques to shape our behavior for the better good, which means less freedom for regular citizens and more profits for an elite few.

Life long book

Keeping this book in a digital and physical shelf! Must read again!
This book sharpens the mind!

As relevant today as when written

recommended for anyone wanting insight into mass movements vs individual resistance. nothing new, but new generations need to understand what previous generations experienced, learned, and forgot.