I don't think there's any such thing as what the term "brainwashing" implies, but it is effectively a systematic form of mind control. If you can implant a thought and have it take hold, have the person own it and believe it and ultimately defend that position, that's pretty powerful. If you can do that in a systematic way, you can potentially get a large number of people to take actions that are in your own self-interest and not necessarily in theirs. Pretty heady stuff, there you have the foundations for a religion, a revolution. I think this type of thing is about as close to brainwashing as it gets.

The term "brainwashing" implies 'Asian,' 'Communist,' and/or 'cult.' It describes nothing.

I thought that brainwashing was a label applied to the technique used to convince someone. You can brainwash someone that holds strong convictions which are wrong to believe in the truth.

Brainwashing is a label applied to the mysterious techniques that communist foreigners and non-Christian religions use to convince someone.

Labels applied to the techniques used to convince someone are 'rhetoric,' and 'argumentation,' amongst others.