The Nature of Propaganda
I'm posting in reverse order a few comments from Today in Iraq.
This discussion about propaganda is critically important for us, the sane
people of the world, to understand the depth and scope of what we are dealing with.
As a sidenote, I bought Alex Carey's book titled "Taking the Risk Out of
Democracy: Corporate Propaganda versus Freedom and Liberty" several years
ago to track down how people's minds were being manipulated. I tried to
get the Mankato Green Party folks to think strategically about this and to
work on ways to take back the terms of the debate, but to no avail. They
were too well brainwashed to be "victims" and "protestors" and were
incapable of thinking otherwise. Unfortunately, I'm a nobody in the middle
of nowhere with no money and no connections, so George Lakoff gets all the
credit for coming up with something I had already thought about 4 years
before he brought it up.
On to the comments.
"But the most brilliant propagandist technique will yield no success
unless one fundamental principle is borne in mind constantly and with
unflagging attention. It must confine itself to a few points and repeat
them over and over." -- Adolf Hitler, Mein Kampf, p. 184
"The purpose of propaganda is not to provide interesting distraction for
blasé young gentlemen, but to convince the masses. But the masses are slow
moving, and they always require a certain time before they are ready even
to notice a thing, and only after the simplest ideas are repeated
thousands of times will the masses finally remember them." -- Adolf Hitler,
Mein Kampf, p. 185
Remember - propaganda can be destructive or constructive.
Malooga | Email | Homepage | 02.21.05 - 5:23 pm | #
[...] For those who want to truly understand the truth of what dialectic is
stating - the truly massive all-encompassing nature of the propaganda mill
that we call "the media", here is audio lesson two:
TUC Radio: Alex Carey: Corporations and Propaganda
Summary: The people of the US have been subjected to the most costly,
unparallelled, 3/4 century propaganda effort by corporations in order to
expand corporate rights, limit democracy and destroy the unions. This is
the history From WWI to Reagan.
This 1988 program from TUC radio is a classic and Maria Gilardin's most
requested program to this day. Send her a few $ if you feel so moved.
Also check out the host site as the web's foremost repository of radical
radio programming.
The Harris poll results are certainly disheartening, but remember polls
often exist so that the elites can use the results to "reinforce what we
should be thinking and feeling". Also, public opinion can change rapidly
and dramatically with a few external precipitating events - especially
among a populace that is so ignorant. [...]
Malooga | Email | Homepage | 02.21.05 - 2:05 pm | #
DJ wrote :
"Latest Harris Poll shows how ignorant many Americans are."
"Obviously, the "mainstream" news is NOT doing their job."
My comment :
Well, DJ, your statement simply is not factually correct. Your evaluation
is just about exactly 180 deg. off.
In fact the "mainstream" news is doing its job perfectly. The additional
information you posted proves it.
The "mainstream" news is the voice of corporate control and domination.
Keeping the masses ignorant is their primary function, a job they perform
brilliantly and effectively. Subserviant to their corporate masters in the
sector of finance capital - the people Chomsky referred to as "The
(self-imagined) Masters of Mankind" - the press makes certain to denigrate
truth and human compassion. The evidence suggests, overwhelmingly, that
for more than twenty years they have not once faltered in that task.
You seem to believe that the press has some sort of obligation to expose
corruption, or "speak truth to power."
Huh? Where did you get such misguided notions?
dialectic | Email | Homepage | 02.21.05 - 1:03 pm | #
Latest Harris Poll shows how ignorant many Americans are
Obviously, the "mainstream" news is NOT doing their job. What are
we going to do with all of the ingorant masses? No wonder support
for the war in Iraq (and Mr. Bush) is STILL so high... its being
padded by ignoramuses who think they found WMD in Iraq, that Saddam
had ties to Osama, and that Saddam's Iraq somehow posed a threat to
the USA.
DJ
---
http://www.harrisinteractive.com/harris_poll/latest.asp
Highlights:
64 percent believe that Saddam Hussein had strong links to Al Qaeda
(up slightly from 62% in November).
61 percent believe that Iraq, under Saddam Hussein, was a serious
threat to U.S. security (down slightly from 63% in November).
...More surprising perhaps are the large numbers (albeit not
majorities) who believe the following claims not made by the
president and which virtually no experts believe to be true:
47 percent believe that Saddam Hussein helped plan and support the
hijackers who attacked the U.S. on September 11, 2001 (up six
percentage points from November).
44 percent actually believe that several of the hijackers who
attacked the U.S. on September 11 were Iraqis (up significantly from
37% in November).
36 percent believe that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction when
the U.S. invaded (down slightly from 38% in November).
DJ | Email | Homepage | 02.21.05 - 5:42 am | #
This discussion about propaganda is critically important for us, the sane
people of the world, to understand the depth and scope of what we are dealing with.
As a sidenote, I bought Alex Carey's book titled "Taking the Risk Out of
Democracy: Corporate Propaganda versus Freedom and Liberty" several years
ago to track down how people's minds were being manipulated. I tried to
get the Mankato Green Party folks to think strategically about this and to
work on ways to take back the terms of the debate, but to no avail. They
were too well brainwashed to be "victims" and "protestors" and were
incapable of thinking otherwise. Unfortunately, I'm a nobody in the middle
of nowhere with no money and no connections, so George Lakoff gets all the
credit for coming up with something I had already thought about 4 years
before he brought it up.
On to the comments.
"But the most brilliant propagandist technique will yield no success
unless one fundamental principle is borne in mind constantly and with
unflagging attention. It must confine itself to a few points and repeat
them over and over." -- Adolf Hitler, Mein Kampf, p. 184
"The purpose of propaganda is not to provide interesting distraction for
blasé young gentlemen, but to convince the masses. But the masses are slow
moving, and they always require a certain time before they are ready even
to notice a thing, and only after the simplest ideas are repeated
thousands of times will the masses finally remember them." -- Adolf Hitler,
Mein Kampf, p. 185
Remember - propaganda can be destructive or constructive.
Malooga | Email | Homepage | 02.21.05 - 5:23 pm | #
[...] For those who want to truly understand the truth of what dialectic is
stating - the truly massive all-encompassing nature of the propaganda mill
that we call "the media", here is audio lesson two:
TUC Radio: Alex Carey: Corporations and Propaganda
Summary: The people of the US have been subjected to the most costly,
unparallelled, 3/4 century propaganda effort by corporations in order to
expand corporate rights, limit democracy and destroy the unions. This is
the history From WWI to Reagan.
This 1988 program from TUC radio is a classic and Maria Gilardin's most
requested program to this day. Send her a few $ if you feel so moved.
Also check out the host site as the web's foremost repository of radical
radio programming.
The Harris poll results are certainly disheartening, but remember polls
often exist so that the elites can use the results to "reinforce what we
should be thinking and feeling". Also, public opinion can change rapidly
and dramatically with a few external precipitating events - especially
among a populace that is so ignorant. [...]
Malooga | Email | Homepage | 02.21.05 - 2:05 pm | #
DJ wrote :
"Latest Harris Poll shows how ignorant many Americans are."
"Obviously, the "mainstream" news is NOT doing their job."
My comment :
Well, DJ, your statement simply is not factually correct. Your evaluation
is just about exactly 180 deg. off.
In fact the "mainstream" news is doing its job perfectly. The additional
information you posted proves it.
The "mainstream" news is the voice of corporate control and domination.
Keeping the masses ignorant is their primary function, a job they perform
brilliantly and effectively. Subserviant to their corporate masters in the
sector of finance capital - the people Chomsky referred to as "The
(self-imagined) Masters of Mankind" - the press makes certain to denigrate
truth and human compassion. The evidence suggests, overwhelmingly, that
for more than twenty years they have not once faltered in that task.
You seem to believe that the press has some sort of obligation to expose
corruption, or "speak truth to power."
Huh? Where did you get such misguided notions?
dialectic | Email | Homepage | 02.21.05 - 1:03 pm | #
Latest Harris Poll shows how ignorant many Americans are
Obviously, the "mainstream" news is NOT doing their job. What are
we going to do with all of the ingorant masses? No wonder support
for the war in Iraq (and Mr. Bush) is STILL so high... its being
padded by ignoramuses who think they found WMD in Iraq, that Saddam
had ties to Osama, and that Saddam's Iraq somehow posed a threat to
the USA.
DJ
---
http://www.harrisinteractive.com/harris_poll/latest.asp
Highlights:
64 percent believe that Saddam Hussein had strong links to Al Qaeda
(up slightly from 62% in November).
61 percent believe that Iraq, under Saddam Hussein, was a serious
threat to U.S. security (down slightly from 63% in November).
...More surprising perhaps are the large numbers (albeit not
majorities) who believe the following claims not made by the
president and which virtually no experts believe to be true:
47 percent believe that Saddam Hussein helped plan and support the
hijackers who attacked the U.S. on September 11, 2001 (up six
percentage points from November).
44 percent actually believe that several of the hijackers who
attacked the U.S. on September 11 were Iraqis (up significantly from
37% in November).
36 percent believe that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction when
the U.S. invaded (down slightly from 38% in November).
DJ | Email | Homepage | 02.21.05 - 5:42 am | #
posted by NeoLotus at 6:26 PM
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