I didn’t know how it was decided before the internet was used as a dictionary but Merriam Webster Company has declared Gaslighting to be the word of the year. It isn’t one of those fancy made-up words that will be forgotten in a few years.  Gaslighting has been around for decades, maybe even a century.

            Merriam Webster Dictionary defines Gaslighting as “The act or practice of grossly misleading someone especially for one’s own advantage.” The meaning I grew up with is somebody who can con a person for a long period of time like P. T. Barnum. Bernie Madoff or Charles Ponzi would be financial gaslighters. There have been many political gaslighters going all the way back to our founding fathers.

            A con artist, grifter, or gas lighter usually needs some kind of distraction to keep the victims from catching on to the scam.

            One definition of a con artist is “a person who cheats or tricks others by persuading them to believe something that is not true.” Gaslighting is the way a con artist deceives people. Today we have a person with other persons of influence conning millions of people into thinking things that are obviously false but still believe it. Historically the con artist’s goal has been money but today it is power and ego which are often the same.

            Do we know anyone or group that employs Gaslighting and conning people into believing things that is not true just to satisfy their egos need for power?