Commonly used by Democrats and RINOs today in the USA.
"Zersetzung – a pseudo-scientific term for what would now be called gaslighting, literally meaning “biodegradation”. Enemies of the state, Mielke instructed, should have their reputation “systematically discredited” by spreading “untrue” but “credible, non-refutable” rumours."
Gift of the STASI.
AKA used by law enforcement to run you through the "system"
lose your job, use up your savings, and destroy you, due to legal
costs and it doesn't cost them a thing. Even though the case gets dropped.
Zersetzung !
It's not the obvious "running through the system" that makes Zersetzung effective. It's the covert and secretive means they use to tear people down. This has manifested itself in the cancel culture we now have.
Rather than directly attack someone who opposes the policies and actions of the political power base, they use social media and the media at large to get them banned off all social media platforms. Not only does that tactic serve to muffle, if not silence, them, it also deprives them of the income generated by the millions of people who follow them.
And the thing that gets them banned is better if it's not something related to their political comments. instead, they find something recent or ancient the person said/posted/published and call it racist, homophobic, antisemitic, or whatever else -- whether it actually was or not. They churn up the Left-wing mob to attack them relentlessly, and then the media "reports" on this tending topic because it's "news." If the victim tries to apologize, they are attacked twice as hard for admitting they did something wrong.
That whole charade is losing its power since Elon hit the Twitter scene. That's a plus.
The whole purpose of the Zersetzung was to destroy the integrity, credibility and reach of anyone they deemed a threat, even before they did anything worth worrying about. it was a kind of "pre-crime", in which you could be targeted just because you happened have a relative that was politically active or once dated a political dissident before they were active. It's very reminiecent of the McCarthy hearings, in which people were accused of being communist traitors without evidence. It was a Ponzi scheme, in which one person was arrested and forced to name others they associated with. Those names were then targeted in hopes they, too, would name others. To survive, you had to turn in anyone as a Communist or be publicly cricified with no trial.