I am so sorry that you experienced this. I did as well. I am a very loving person and hate the thought of making anyone unhappy…so when my abuser claimed that I was cruel or awful to him or others, it just left me a blubbering mess because I couldn’t understand what I had done. When I learned the term “gaslighting,” it started to make sense. Like you, I see it done constantly on both an interpersonal and a societal level. And yet it’s hard to explain. I have been wanting to write a piece about it but couldn’t find the words. You have done an excellent job of explaining this phenomenon.