2024-05-06 20:40:05 +00:00
|
|
|
---
|
2024-10-30 17:34:11 +00:00
|
|
|
date: 2020-10-29
|
2024-05-06 20:40:05 +00:00
|
|
|
id: f4965fea-590f-41d2-ad18-890062a9e6d9
|
|
|
|
|
title: Useful idiot
|
|
|
|
|
---
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
In political jargon, a useful idiot is a derogatory term for a person
|
|
|
|
|
perceived as propagandizing for a cause without fully comprehending the
|
|
|
|
|
cause's goals, and who is cynically used by the cause's leaders. The
|
|
|
|
|
term was originally used during the Cold War to describe non-communists
|
|
|
|
|
regarded as susceptible to communist propaganda and manipulation. The
|
|
|
|
|
term has often been attributed to Vladimir Lenin, but this attribution
|
|
|
|
|
is unsubstantiated.
|
