Pulling a government

Saying something even worse then what actually happened (still usually bad but not necessarily) to subvert expectations and make someone less upset about the second thing.

Person A: "I accidentally scratched your car."

Person B: "What!?! How bad is it?!"

Person A: "Actually, I just scraped your side mirror, but it should be fine. I was just pulling a government to subvert your expectations.”

by Pipicidal May 6, 2024

Theory of Secret Government

The idea that the official, elected government is merely a façade, and that true executive power is exercised by an unelected, hidden cabinet of senior civil servants, intelligence chiefs, judicial figures, and financial mandarins who make the real long-term decisions. This group operates through informal committees, confidential briefings, and unminuted meetings, ensuring continuity of policy (like austerity, foreign alliances, or surveillance) regardless of which party wins public elections.

Example: The Theory of Secret Government might posit that a country's commitment to a deeply unpopular war continues unchanged after an election where the anti-war party won, because the Permanent Secretaries in the Defense and Foreign ministries, the central bank governor, and the intelligence chief jointly brief the new prime minister on "why it's necessary," effectively locking in the previous policy.

by Abzugal Nammugal Enkigal February 4, 2026

Psychology of the Government

The study of how individuals experience and relate to the day-to-day institutions that administer public life—bureaucracies, agencies, officials, and the endless forms. Government is the state made tangible: the DMV, the tax collector, the social worker, the police officer. The psychology of the government examines how these encounters shape citizens' sense of themselves (as subjects, clients, or partners), their trust in institutions (fair treatment builds legitimacy), and their political behavior (bad experiences breed cynicism). It also examines the psychology of those who work in government—how they cope with bureaucracy, maintain public service motivation, or succumb to the dehumanizing effects of processing people like cases.

Example: "She applied the psychology of the government to understand her grandmother's deep distrust of authority. A single traumatic encounter with a housing official decades ago had colored everything since. The government wasn't abstract to her; it was that official, forever. The psychology explained why one bad experience could poison an entire relationship with the state."

by Dumu The Void February 16, 2026

Critical Theory of Government

The application of Critical Theory to government—examining how governing institutions operate, how they're shaped by power, and how they might be transformed. Critical Theory of Government asks: Who governs? For whose benefit? How do governments claim legitimacy? How do policies reflect and reinforce inequality? What are the limits of reform within existing governmental structures? Drawing on political theory, critical policy studies, and anarchist thought, it insists that government is never just administration—it's politics, power, and struggle. Understanding government requires understanding who it serves and how it might serve otherwise.

"Just elect better people, they say. Critical Theory of Government asks: better for whom? Within what constraints? Government isn't just who's in office; it's structures, institutions, interests. Better people within a broken system still produce broken outcomes. Critical theory insists on asking: what would government look like if it truly served everyone—and can we get there through elections alone?"

by Abzugal Nammugal Enkigal March 4, 2026

Vietnam War government gaslighting

Is that what they are doing to me at work Patrick?

Hym "Using Vietnam war government gaslighting to silence a dissident and try to convince me to... What? Murder children? Not murder children? Who ARE these fucking psychologist working for you? You know that shit isn't going to get me to think differently, right? Let me ask you something: do you understand the difference between overt and covert? It's not going to make me surrender. I'm not going to stop. If you wanted me to stop or surrender the money would be in a bank account that I and I alone have access to and I would have already sent that money on antibiotics assuming that what you are doing doesn't obstruct my ability to receive care. Which I don't. I don't assume that. I haven't spent any money. And I would be getting for my contributions. Which means when I watch Rick and Morty, MY NAME scrolls across the screen when the credits roll. When people talk about AI MY NAME would be brought up in relationship why I works now when it didn't before. Those 2 things are THE ONLY things that will end this. And it's hard to call that surrender."

by Hym Iam January 10, 2025

4th Branch of government

No the fuck you are not.

Hym "The press is not the 4th branch of government. You trying to be that is a problem that needs remediation."

by Hym Iam April 18, 2025

Is the government spying on schizophrenics enough?

A skit from 17 YEARS AGO on The Onion about exactly what is happening here.

Hym "Is the government spying on schizophrenics enough? It's entirely manufactured illness so... Yes? They are like Nurse Rachet or Mother Teresa. Creating the illness so that they can use a cure that they know will not be effective for anything other than restricting the rights of the populous, selectively and arbitrarily, or instrumentally as a way to silence dissidents. Which has already happened in other countries. Like China."

by Hym Iam September 9, 2025