Useful idiot

{{politics}}
{{cquote|The various modes of worship which prevailed in the Roman world were all considered by the people as equally true; by the philosopher as equally false; and by the magistrate as equally useful.|||Edward Gibbon<ref>[https://archive.org/details/bim_eighteenth-century_the-history-of-the-decli_gibbon-edward_1777_1/mode/2up ''The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire''] by Edward Gibbon (1777) William Hallhead. 4<sup>th</sup> edition.</ref>{{rp|41}}}}
A '''useful idiot''' is someone who supports one side of an ideological debate, but who is manipulated and despised by the leaders of their faction, or who is unaware of the ultimate plan driving the [[ideology]] they support.<ref group=note>There is often (but not always) the implication that the ideology in question is something nefarious and/or that the fulfillment of its goals will screw the useful idiots over in some fashion (such as becoming [[genocide]] victims).</ref> The term originated in early 1950s [[America]] in reference to members of the [[Socialist Party USA|Socialist Party]], allegedly promoted by the malevolent [[KGB]] to [[Red Scare|weaken America as a nation]].<ref>[http://oed.com/view/Entry/220640?redirectedFrom=useful%20idiot#eid205795844 Useful idiot], Oxford English Dictionary</ref> The closely related term '''fellow traveller''' (Russian: спутник, ''sputnik'')<ref group=note>It is not clear whether this usage originated in the CPSU or was coined in the West among anti-Communists familiar with the Russian word for ''traveling companion'' and later imported in a "hey, that's useful, we should have thought of that" moment. The CPSU did originate the very similar term ''podkulachnik'' — which means the same thing in relation to ''kulak'' — at the time of the "liquidation of the kulaks as a class". This suggests a continuity of ideas, but that does not resolve the question.</ref> refers to someone who sympathises with and is willing to support the [[Propaganda|publicly stated goals]] of the party while not being a dues-paying, card-carrying member. The origin of the phrase has often been attributed to [[Vladimir Lenin]],<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2012/01/26/soros-supposes-hes-one-of-lenins-useful-idiots/ |title=Soros ‘Supposes’ He’s One of Lenin’s ‘Useful Idiots’ |date=January 26, 2012 |author=Becket Adams}}</ref> but there is no evidence that Lenin ever said or wrote it.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nytimes.com/1987/04/12/magazine/on-language.html |title=ON LANGUAGE |author=William Safire |date=April 12, 1987}}</ref><ref>Paul F. Bioler Jr., [https://books.google.com/books?id=NCOEYJ0q-DUC&pg=PA76&lpg=PA76&dq=lenin+said+useful+idiots&source=bl&ots=hCOzRyw0KG&sig=c8z6W_BkBI3XqC0SdLPQPVSJKuk&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0CEMQ6AEwBjgKahUKEwiJ6Nzk-ezIAhVBOCYKHUlZCe0#v=onepage&q=lenin%20said%20useful%20idiots&f=false They Never Said It: A Book of Fake Quotes, Misquotes, and Misleading]. Oxford University Press, 1990.</ref>

==Co-optation==

The term '''''co-opted''''' is often used when this phenomenon occurs on a large enough scale that a ''group, movement, or cause'' has been co-opted and subverted for a hostile and destructive purpose. 

In the case of ''[[Agent provocateur|agents-provocateurs]]'', this may be a deliberate and organised effort; indeed, this would be more or less the goal. Alternatively, it may simply be the extreme natural consequence of [[Poe's Law]] at work, when [[trolls]] and [[edgelord]]s (for lack of a more precise and neutral terminology) enter the community of interest in sufficient numbers to distort its aims, methods, and publicly visible message. 

The distinction is, of course, only one of intention; the practical outcome for the community concerned is essentially the same.

Citing specific examples is a controversial exercise, especially in the second case.

==Misuse==
As a subjective label, it is often misused/abused. There are reasonable differences of [[rhetoric]] and tactics in any ideological movement, but these differences can be [[Ad hominem|unfairly smeared]] with the label of idiocy. Nor are all poor representatives of a position necessarily useful idiots: a useful idiot is a poor representative held up as a figurehead by a third party with malicious intent. [[VenomFangX]] may be a spectacular failure at [[Christian apologetics]], but he's not a useful idiot because his popularity comes from other [[Christian]]s, not [[atheist]]s.<ref group=note>Granted, examples of Christian apologists who are ''successful'' at convincing [[skeptics]] to embrace [[Christianity]] are… hard to come by.</ref>

==Examples==
*[[S. E. Cupp]] — The atheist who hates atheists. She is often seen as a useful idiot of the [[Religious Right]], an atheist who talks at length about how atheists are [[Irony|sexist]], [[evil]], stupid or unreasonable.
*[[David Frum]] — An [[American]] [[conservative]] blogger who is regarded by many on the left as "[[Reality-based community|the sensible one]]" and [[Epistemic closure|by many on the right as a useful liberal idiot]].
*[[Kent Hovind]] — A [[creationist]] and [[evangelist]] with a PhD from a [[diploma mill]] and a 10-year prison sentence, his tactics were scorned by more "respectable" creationist organisations such as [[Answers in Genesis]], who considered him well-meaning but a useful idiot for the villainous [[Darwinist]]s.
*The [[Tea Party]] — Many of the people involved in the "teabagging" protests have low incomes and would ''benefit'' from many [[Democratic|Democratic Party]]-backed policies like [[Obamacare]], and would be mostly hurt by [[Republican]] policies like [[Paul Ryan]]'s "[[Path to Prosperity]]," even though a fair number of them oppose cutting government programs like [[Medicare]] and [[Social Security]]. ([[GOP]] strategists know this.) The Republican establishment's catering to them in the name of votes eventually backfired. It bit them in the ass when the Tea Party movement broadly coalesced around [[Donald Trump]]'s 2016 presidential campaign, whose economic populism ran counter to GOP orthodoxy on [[free trade]] and free markets.
*[[Edward Snowden]] — After striking a blow against the [[NSA|abuse of civil liberties]] by the [[Bush]] and [[Obama]] administrations, [[Snowden]] allowed himself to be manipulated into a transparent [[public relations]] stunt by his supposed protector, [[Vladimir Putin]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/edward-snowden-asks-vladimir-putin-about-russian-spying-on-its-citizens/2014/04/17/bdbdcbdc-c62b-11e3-9f37-7ce307c56815_story.html |title=Edward Snowden asks Vladi­mir Putin if Russia spies on its citizens |work=Washington Post |author=Kathy Lally and Greg Miller |date=April 17, 2014}}</ref> To his credit, Snowden was fully aware of how this was playing out and was appalled by it. He took to the pages of ''[[The Guardian]]''<ref>Snowden, Edward. [http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/apr/18/vladimir-putin-surveillance-us-leaders-snowden "Vladimir Putin must be called to account on surveillance just like Obama."] ''[[The Guardian]]'', 18 April 2014.</ref> to make clear his rejection of Putin's "answers" and to explain his own intentions in asking the questions. Nonetheless, he married a Russian {{wpl|Recruitment of spies#Love, honeypots, and recruitment|honeypot}} as a reward.
*[[Henry A. Wallace]] — The former [[vice-president]] under [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]] ran in 1948 on a third party platform that was staunchly [[left-wing]] and pro-[[Soviet Union|Soviet]]. While it's widely accepted that Wallace himself was not a communist, it's also widely accepted that the party itself (the Progressive Party of 1948) had been infiltrated by genuine communists and fellow travellers. The [[Communist Party USA]] endorsed him in a "popular front" strategy rather than running their own candidate. As a result of his refusal to disavow them, the anti-communist Socialist Party ran its own candidate (the [[perennial candidate]] {{wpl|Norman Thomas}}) rather than support Wallace. In his 1952 autobiography, ''Where I Was Wrong'', Wallace himself later admitted that he felt he had been duped by [[Joseph Stalin]], and that his support for the Soviets stemmed from ignorance of Stalin's true intentions and the nature of his rule.
*[[Smoloko News|Scottie Spence]] — The founder (and criminal) of Smoloko News, an [[Antisemitism|anti-Semitic]], [[international Jewish conspiracy]] "news" service that sympathises with [[Adolf Hitler|Hitler]] and the [[Nazi Germany|Nazis]], treating them as if they were the good guys, completely unaware of the [[Holocaust|less than noble things they did to Jews]], and pandering to the likes of [[Henry Makow]], ''[[The Daily Stormer]]'' and [[Real Jew News]]. He also serves as a useful idiot for [[Russia]]n President [[Vladimir Putin]]. His servant (or sidekick) Alicia Frischmann also falls under the same useful idiocy for Nazism.
*[[Tucker Carlson]] — Perhaps the best example on this list, Carlson has promoted various [[authoritarian]] regimes and leaders, especially [[far-right]]/[[fascist]] ones (which is not surprising knowing that Carlson himself is a fascist). Some examples include making [[propaganda]] for [[Viktor Orbán]] and Putin, promoting them as "traditional conservatives" fighting against the "[[wokeness]]" and "[[degeneracy]]" that Carlson claims is prevalent in the West.
*The Chinese advocate Mearsheimer to defend Russia — Mearsheimer's "offensive realism" argues that the Chiang Kai-shek government was responsible for the Sino-Japanese War.

==See also==
*[[Concern troll]]
*[[Sucker]]
*[[Bread and circuses]]

==Notes==
{{reflist|group=note}}

==References==
{{reflist|2|80%}}

[[Category:Political terms]]

Categories: Political terms