I never intended this blog to be a political forum, I would count myself among the least political people I know. The blog, as you may or may not know, was created for the purpose of writing with my friend Sasha, and presenting culturally different perspectives on whatever topic came up. Unfortunately, Sasha, for various reasons, has been unable to post, and I have sort of gone in the direction that my concerns have taken me. Eventually I will get around to remodeling the blog so that it reflects one author, rather than two, but I keep hoping that he will find the time. It’s been a few days since I have posted. I have been thinking hard about the topic that I want to talk about, and how I wanted to approach it, and reading and doing a little research. I think it is a very important topic, one that all of us need to think hard about, especially in the days to come… but I worry about coming off as pedantic or self righteous or as an insufferable know it all, so I procrastinate. This blog was just supposed to be about how I felt about things. But something happened the other day that made me say “you know about this stuff, you should write something about it,” so… here goes.
What I want to talk about is propaganda.
First a little definition and history.
Propaganda, according to Merriam Webster Dictionary:
Propaganda noun \ˌprä-pə-ˈgan-də, ˌprō-\
1: capitalized : a congregation of the Roman curia having jurisdiction over missionary territories and related institutions
2: the spreading of ideas, INFORMATION, or rumor for the purpose of helping or injuring an institution, a cause, or a person
3: ideas, facts, or allegations spread deliberately to further one's cause or to damage an opposing cause; also : a public action having such an effect
Since number 1 is obviously not the one we are referring to, we will go with 2 and 3. Propaganda is a form of communication, or information dissemination with the intent of furthering, or causing damage to an individual, institution, or cause. It is important to understand that propaganda is not meant as a source of accurate information to edify the receiver, rather, it is a tactic meant primarily to influence the receiver and motivate them to take a specific action to the benefit of the propagandist.
Usually when we hear the term we think of the Jingoistic imagery associated with the Soviet Bloc countries of the Cold War, or the Nazi’s in WWII, or even Iran and North Korea.
But although that is typically where our minds go, they are not the masters of propaganda. Not by a long shot. Those types of propaganda are obvious, easily recognized for what they are, and generally tuned out by the mass populace. Propaganda is part of a particularly Western science known as Persuasion that also includes marketing and advertising, among other, more insidious forms of mass influence and control. The United States has mastered this science like no one else, when we do it, it’s quick, subtle, efficient, and effective… and people really believe they are thinking for themselves.
During WWII Propaganda was heavily employed, and the main concern of communication research centered around propaganda and its use as a means to influence and control public thought.
But that’s all ancient history.
Well, not so much. While some forms of propaganda are very identifiable, some are less so, and while we may be very good at spotting propaganda on the side of the issue this is opposite to our own, we are not so good at weeding through and fact checking those sources we tend to agree with.
Take Fox News for example. Everyone with liberal leanings is very quick to point out the errors and hyperbole of Fox News. Their claim of being “fair and balanced” is laughable, right? They spin every story, leave out important facts, edit video and quote speech out of context. They present the picture they want their viewers to see and completely shape their opinion for them. Obviously there is corporate backing for this, they are spewing a right wing agenda, and protecting the interests of the GOP and their 1% overlords. They are purposefully generating hate against President Obama, misrepresenting the 99%, and loads of other terrible things. Some have gone so far to even label them “state television.”
But then, those same people will follow MoveOn.Org, or watch MSNBC, organizations that are doing the same thing, and will buy into it hook, line, and sinker.
I am just as guilty. Propaganda appeals to our emotions as opposed to our logic, and we like to feel justified in our beliefs. So, when MoveOn posts a picture of a sign that says:
"New Company Policy: We are not hiring until Obama is gone,"
With the headline reading: The Photo Proving the GOP Will Do Anything to Get Rid of Obama, Even if it Hurts America.
see it here
We have an instant reaction. It hits us in the gut, and we get angry. Angry at those fucking republicans who will do anything to take this country down! FASCISTS! THIS PROVES IT!
But wait. Hold on a minute. It doesn’t prove anything. What it proves is that MoveOn.org posted a picture with no context, with a fallacious headline meant to provoke a response. That sounds like propaganda to me.
A little fact checking shows the sign has nothing to do with the GOP. It was posted by a Georgia businessman. A single individual, who feels that he can’t afford to hire anyone in the current economic climate, and he sees the current climate as the president’s fault. The thing is, we may not agree with him. The fact that he posted this on his trucks may anger us. But he has the same First Ammendment Rights as we do, and his single opinion isn’t any more representative of all the members of a political party any more than the guy who stands in Civic Center Park and shouts “Satan Rules,” is representative of all the participants of Occupy Denver, or Occupy Wall Street as a whole, and to say so is not only completely unfair, it is ridiculous.
But this picture and headline have achieved a very important thing as they spread virally across the internet. They achieved the purpose of further alienating liberals from conservatives. They have achieved the purpose of dehumanizing our "opponent" and giving us an object to aim our frustration, anger, and hatred towards. It's divide and conquer tactics. More on that later, but first...
My question is this… and it may be a question that gets me some flack, but I am prepared to ask it. For those of the left leaning persuasion it is generally accepted that Fox News is a corporate tool. If that is true (and I believe it is), doesn’t that beg the question… Whose tool is MoveOn? Whose tool is MSNBC?
I have stated many times that right now this country is more polarized along party lines than ever. I have never heard people speak about each other with such venom, such vitriol… such hate. It fills me with a sense of sadness. It reminds me of stories I have read by Civil War veterans about the hatred of American toward American, brother against brother, and how badly it damaged the country. We are there again.
Now, ask yourself… who benefits? Who is the beneficiary of the inability of the people of this country to agree, and to hate each other with such passion based on political affiliation? Who profits from using propaganda as a tool to shape public opinion on both sides. I mean, it couldn't be the same interests on either side... could it?
In my last post I talked about divide and conquer tactics. How can we, as Americans, accomplish any goal when we are at the whim of propagandists whose sole purpose is to keep us divided as a nation, and easily controlled?
Here is a quote by linguist and communication scientist Noam Chomsky,
“The 20th century has been characterized by three developments of great political importance: the growth of democracy, the growth of corporate power, and the growth of corporate propaganda as a means of protecting corporate power against democracy.”
We have determined whose tool the “conservative” media is. I will ask again, whose tool is the “liberal” media?
Propaganda is designed to illicit a knee jerk, emotional response, but once you understand that, it is a little easier to detect.
All I am saying is check your facts, be a doubting Thomas, don’t take things at face value, and get your information from a variety of sources. And BE REASONABLE AND LOGICAL.
Look… it may serve our bias to believe that all conservative people are hateful devils who want to destroy us and our freedoms, but it just isn’t so. Think about every time that someone said that people who believe like you hate America. How did that make you feel? Was it true?
My parents are good people. They taught me to think for myself, to choose the candidate I think could best do the job, regardless of what party he belonged to. They taught me that voting is a great responsibility, and it was my duty as a citizen. They taught me great love for my country. They have been through some really hard times, they work hard. Now they are older and worried about social security and medicare and healthcare costs. Their main concerns were raising a family, making their farm work, paying the bills, feeding the kids, helping their extended family, and living a good life.
My parents are Tea Party Republicans.
Do I agree with their ideology? No, not at all. Are they good people, who love their country? Yes, absolutely. Do we have some ideas in common? Yes. Can we agree on some things? Yes.
They are people, like their friends are people, like we are people. With the same basic needs and concerns.
Would those in politics and power like to keep us apart? Absolutely. As a matter of fact, the most terrifying thing to the really corrupt and powerful is the thought of the American people truly uniting.
We are all the 99%, we have all suffered from unfairness and corruption. We may not all agree on the solutions to the problems, but we sure as hell can come to a compromise.
Before we can take back our country we have to take back our minds. Turn off the TV, the radio, the internet… and go talk to someone face to face who has different ideas than you do.
It’s the American way, or at least… it needs to be.
