Gaslighting is a form of manipulation through persistent denial, misdirection, contradiction, and lying in an attempt to destabilize and delegitimize a target. Its intent is to sow seeds of doubt in the targets, hoping to make them question their own memory, perception, and sanity.
Turn the TV on. Every news broadcast serves up a slice of the truth, hand-crafted by well-meaning folks desperate to inject fairness in reporting into their organisation's output. If you're lucky. Unless you have a range of disparate sources from which to draw, your views will be shaped by what you hear and read. And your friends will help you too.
Democracy (Greek: δημοκρατία, Dēmokratía literally "rule of the commoners"), in modern usage, is a system of government in which the citizens exercise power directly or elect representatives from among themselves to form a governing body, such as a parliament.
We in this modern age, we've never had it, it's all an illusion. The closest we have is adding an 'X' in a box or writing to our local representatives, all of whom have agendas different to yours. Sure we can write emails or tweets, sign petitions and the like, but really? A popular vote couldn't even persuade the British establishment name a ship according to the majority, and yet…
Attempts by powerful people to erode democracy are working everywhere I look outside the comfort of my chosen circle. It's why I've scaled back use of Twitter already, and I've never really got back into Facebook…
To those who would say we must accept it, that protest is futile, or that a march for women or for minorities is essentially against white men: no, we must not! There is better to be had from those we elect; just rolling over and accepting this as being the best there is, is just wrong.
We are living in a time during which the norms of modern society, worked for by those who would protect humanity as a whole rather than a narrow strip running through it, will be wiped out by the stroke of a pen, both here in the UK and, more quickly, in the 'United' States of America.
Of course it's easy for me to say all this, safely nestled in my comfy chair.
Wikipedia and fact-checking organisations like snopes.com are your friend.