Ugliness as a Tool of Social Control

[Objectivist]

I’m actually reading a historical novel on the starting of a resistance movement during a well-known episode of invasion. A young princess is leading this new movement of independence against the invaders. The first phase of the revolution is: Laundry.
 
She distributes soap to her people and closely supervises laundry-work within the palace. Then she goes on with greater attention to the clean state of the streets of the city they are living in. Of course there are also efforts to rebuild the army etc. but another main effort is in the area of some basic makeup needs for women. So in this first phase of the revolution streets become cleaner, people become cleaner, women start to be better looking and physical hygiene is increasing.
 
Why is this important?
 
Because it’s about self-respect. If you want to raise your voice against an invading force, the first thing you need is a feeling of confidence that come from being a clean / shaved individual if you are a man, tanned and good looking hair if you are a woman, who doesn’t stink, who looks like a human being more than a street dog, who lives in a clean house and who wanders in clean streets without garbage rooting in every corner. Than you can go on an claim your rights as a self-respecting human being.
 
To this I would add the importance of art and education. This is another important step too. It reminds people that they have a brain and a soul and that they are an entity that has the power to determine their own destiny.
 
And these are the first things that will be targeted by anyone who wants to turn a society into an obedient animal flock. So they will not fight poverty. They will not invest in things like museums (I was in Syria at the time of the father of the current Syrian dictator and I visited a museum in the city of Allepo. They had ancient scroll who had fallen and were broken and no one would even pick these up and restore them). Dirt will be widespread. Streets will be ugly and dirty and full of garbage. People will be unclean and they will be wearing clothes that are not being frequently washed. Body odors will be the common rule. And women will either be bad-looking or they will be completely hidden from view. This is especially important: People have to get used to dirt and ugliness. Anything that is nice or beautiful must not be seen by them. In this way you can make them think they are a type of being that is unworthy of anything that is good. And, as a result, you can make them agree that the only thing they deserve is a tyrant or a group of tyrants that will take everything from them and give them nothing in return.
 
Just another historical quote: The founder of the Modern Turkish Republic did the exact opposite of that. And because of that, he was met with the resistance of all those who had become used to the old, tyrannical way of doing things. And that’s how insane the human Ego is. If it has become used to being a pig, it will feel threatened by anyone who reminds it that it is a human being rather than a pig

If you want to control people you have to take away their self-esteem.  You have to make them feel unworthy.  You have to get them to accept themselves as the standard of evil.  What are we hearing now?  You should shower only once a week.  You should eat bugs instead of steak.  You shouldn't have a nice gas stove that is wonderful and efficient to cook on.  You should be limited to driving no more than 15 minutes from your home.  They are even trying to ban those 1 lbs. propane cylinders that backpackers and campers use. If they 
try limiting me to a 15-minute drive from my home the first thing I'll do is drive 20 minutes and call the police and tell them to come and arrest me.   Our sheriff wouldn't do it.