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The various modes of worship which prevailed in the Roman world were all considered by the people as equally true; by the philosopher as equally false; and by the magistrate as equally useful.
—Edward Gibbon[1]:41

A useful idiot is someone who supports one side of an ideological debate, but who is manipulated and despised by the leaders of their faction, or who is unaware of the ultimate plan driving the ideology they support.[note 1] The term originated in early 1950s America in reference to members of the Socialist Party, allegedly promoted by the malevolent KGB to weaken America as a nation.[2] The closely related term fellow traveller (Russian: спутник, sputnik)[note 2] refers to someone who sympathises with and is willing to support the publicly stated goals of the party while not being a dues-paying, card-carrying member. The origin of the phrase has often been attributed to Vladimir Lenin,[3] but there is no evidence that Lenin ever said or wrote it.[4][5]

Co-optation[edit]

The term co-opted is often used when this phenomenon occurs on a large enough scale that a group, movement, or cause has been co-opted and subverted for a hostile and destructive purpose.

In the case of agents-provocateurs, this may be a deliberate and organised effort; indeed, this would be more or less the goal. Alternatively, it may simply be the extreme natural consequence of Poe's Law at work, when trolls and edgelords (for lack of a more precise and neutral terminology) enter the community of interest in sufficient numbers to distort its aims, methods, and publicly visible message.

The distinction is, of course, only one of intention; the practical outcome for the community concerned is essentially the same.

Citing specific examples is a controversial exercise, especially in the second case.

Misuse[edit]

As a subjective label, it is often misused/abused. There are reasonable differences of rhetoric and tactics in any ideological movement, but these differences can be unfairly smeared with the label of idiocy. Nor are all poor representatives of a position necessarily useful idiots: a useful idiot is a poor representative held up as a figurehead by a third party with malicious intent. VenomFangX may be a spectacular failure at Christian apologetics, but he's not a useful idiot because his popularity comes from other Christians, not atheists.[note 3]

Examples[edit]

See also[edit]

Notes[edit]

  1. There is often (but not always) the implication that the ideology in question is something nefarious and/or that the fulfillment of its goals will screw the useful idiots over in some fashion (such as becoming genocide victims).
  2. It is not clear whether this usage originated in the CPSU or was coined in the West among anti-Communists familiar with the Russian word for traveling companion and later imported in a "hey, that's useful, we should have thought of that" moment. The CPSU did originate the very similar term podkulachnik — which means the same thing in relation to kulak — at the time of the "liquidation of the kulaks as a class". This suggests a continuity of ideas, but that does not resolve the question.
  3. Granted, examples of Christian apologists who are successful at convincing skeptics to embrace Christianity are… hard to come by.

References[edit]

  1. The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire by Edward Gibbon (1777) William Hallhead. 4th edition.
  2. Useful idiot, Oxford English Dictionary
  3. Becket Adams (January 26, 2012). "Soros ‘Supposes’ He’s One of Lenin’s ‘Useful Idiots’". 
  4. William Safire (April 12, 1987). "ON LANGUAGE". 
  5. Paul F. Bioler Jr., They Never Said It: A Book of Fake Quotes, Misquotes, and Misleading. Oxford University Press, 1990.
  6. Kathy Lally and Greg Miller (April 17, 2014). "Edward Snowden asks Vladi­mir Putin if Russia spies on its citizens". Washington Post. 
  7. Snowden, Edward. "Vladimir Putin must be called to account on surveillance just like Obama." The Guardian, 18 April 2014.