Elites manufactured evidence when their professed base stopped believing the goal

Evidence

I propose that in fact the leaders themselves knew that their demands had failed to generate the kind of resonance they wanted. … At the same time that they tried to suppress dissent in their own ranks about what Heimkehr itself should entail, expellee leaders feared that their work seldom inspired Germans to desire Heimkehr at all. The third section will show how the leadership responded by seeking to drum up support in meetings and in the classroom, and by manufacturing statistical “evidence” to match their wishful thinking. — Andrew Demshuk, The Lost German East, 427

Categorization

• XREF: Speaks directly to the conviction-versus-measured-behavior divergence theme: leaders’ professed solidarity with a unified Volk diverged from measurable member intent. — connects to: The crisis seemed confusing because elites deliberately obscured the truth — Philip Mirowski, Never Let a Serious Crisis Go to Waste, 1769; Authoritarians apply a biased standard for evidence that favors their beliefs — Bob Altemeyer, The Authoritarian Specter, 1298; Land reform was a manufactured legitimacy gambit by an embattled elite. — Tavengwa Gwekwerere, Davie E. Mutasa, and Kudakwashe Chitofiri, Settlers, Rhodesians, and Supremacists:…, 29

Broader Connections

• The crisis seemed confusing because elites deliberately obscured the truth #expands (0.85) — Philip Mirowski, Never Let a Serious Crisis Go to Waste, 1769
• Authoritarians apply a biased standard for evidence that favors their beliefs #corroborates (0.72) — Bob Altemeyer, The Authoritarian Specter, 1298