This experiment brings to mind more recent ones in Russia, where there were deliberate efforts to breed both aggressive and docile rats. One Gaslit Nation listener wondered if Russian botfarms are deliberately "engineering" (inciting) aggressive Americans and also docile ones in their disinformation warfare to further divide us. The theory suggests that docile and distracted Americans would be less likely to resist against the aggressive ones. Research into hybrid warfare points to distraction as a powerful tool of disinformation waged by foreign adversaries. (The West has its own history of this, using CIA-funded art and culture to directly challenge Soviet ideology. There's a great book that captures that time called The Cultural Cold War: The CIA and the World of Arts and Letters.)

All that and more, including Venezuela's threats to annex an oil-rich region of Guyana, which would worsen the refugee crisis on our southern border, is discussed in this week's bonus episode. If you didn't hear your question answered this week, look out for it next week as the Gaslit Nation Q&A continues! Thank you to everyone who supports the show – we could not make Gaslit Nation without you!

Under Stalin, in their quest to build a Soviet utopia, the Bolsheviks turned to eugenics. With the goal of breeding humans with apes, they aimed to successfully prove Darwin was right and that religion was indeed the "opium of the masses." Their human-ape hybrids would be engineered to be a super species—communally driven, designed with positive traits to build a flourishing communist society. Needless to say, the experiment failed, and many chimpanzees kidnapped from Africa died in the process.

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Show Notes:

Get your 'Tis the Season to Prosecute Treason T-shirt featuring an original design by Hamish Smyth! http://tee.pub/lic/_vLBHBoWkeg

Nice Rats, Nasty Rats: Maybe It's All in the Genes https://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/25/health/nice-rats-nasty-rats-maybe-its-all-in-the-genes.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare

Israel and Palestine: A Political Solution https://www.gaslitnationpod.com/episodes-transcripts-20/2023/10/18/israel-palestine-political-solution

Kremlin says Putin is healthy, laughs off body double rumours https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/kremlin-rejects-speculation-that-putin-is-ill-uses-body-doubles-2023-10-24/

The Russian Government Once Funded a Scientist's Quest To Make an Ape-Human Hybrid In 1926, a famed Russian biologist was "hell-bent" on creating an ape-human hybrid https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/the-russian-government-once-funded-a-scientists-quest-to-make-an-ape-human-hybrid-5043859/

Venezuela's threats to annex most of Guyana draw international concern https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/12/07/venezuela-guyana-esequibo-map-border-dispute/

Distraction Helps Misinformation Spread. Thinking About Accuracy Can Reduce it. https://medium.com/jigsaw/distraction-helps-misinformation-spread-thinking-about-accuracy-can-reduce-it-a4e5d8371a85

Weapons of Mass Distraction https://www.state.gov/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Weapons-of-Mass-Distraction-Foreign-State-Sponsored-Disinformation-in-the-Digital-Age.pdf