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Article by Johnny ?Knockemstiff? O?Coileain
?The key to growth is the introduction of higher dimensions of consciousness into our awareness.?
~Lao Tzu
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Learning from historical atrocities?
The World War II era remains one of the greatest, albeit tragic, sociological experiments in the entirety of human existence. The period encapsulates the very definition of the word atrocious, but examining these badlands for vital lessons is paramount for future human flourishing. The word ?propaganda? usually carries negative connotations, and rightfully so. The fact that negative emotions arise when hearing the word shows, at least instinctually, that lessons are in effect. Where propaganda becomes essential, is usually found with organizations that desire public control to some degree. My advice that follows: recognize the symptoms, and do not become a pathetic drone.
The essential clue lies in repetition?
I?ve?always sided with the lesson: if you can understand human extremes, you can understand the subtleties that give birth to them. Totalitarian states, for example, cannot survive without a solid system of streaming, repetitive propaganda; it is an essential cog in the wheels of mass control. They sit on the extreme end, and were eager to exterminate all dissenting voices. On a lighter note, take the Fox News mantra, ?Fair and Balanced?. The slogan is plastered on all things Fox News. It?s repeated to an extent comparable to correcting the family dog about not dry-humping houseguests.
The chief of Nazi propaganda Joseph Goebbels spoke blatantly on it:
?It would not be impossible to prove with sufficient repetition and a psychological understanding of the people concerned that a square is in fact a circle. They are mere words, and words can be molded until they clothe ideas and disguise.?
In another famous line, Goebbels also mentioned, ?If you repeat a lie often enough, it becomes the truth.? Obviously, repetition is the biggest clue in revealing whether a social structure or organization has the motive of control and manipulation. What makes ?Fair and Balanced,? babbled over and over, much different?
Aside from totalitarianism, or corporations yearning for controlling public opinion, the same effect, I?d argue, began from the original vicar of mass control: religion. Attending church of a mosque is essentially a form of propagandist manipulation. It?s coated in euphemisms and mystery; and is repeated infectiously like a dividing germ.
The reliance on euphemisms?
A euphemism is basically putting a pretty face on an ugly thing. Words like ?collateral damage? use in the place of ?dead civilians? provides an obvious sample. Euphemisms within propaganda are woven into the fabric of manipulation and control. North Korea, for example, has essentially transformed all walks of its society into a colossal euphemism.
1: The nation?s official title is ?Democratic People?s Republic of Korea.? It is neither democratic, nor serves the people, and is the opposite of a republic. The official slogan is a pathetic attempt to cover an extremely ugly reality.
2: The North Korean constitution, in writing, resembles a people?s democracy. For instance, Article 67 states:
?Citizens are guaranteed freedom of speech, of the press, of assembly, demonstration and association. The State shall guarantee conditions for the free activity of democratic political parties and social organizations.?
Of course, in reality, the country is a totalitarian dictatorship, and its constitution is simply another piece of propaganda. The same trends usually follow as a nation becomes more authoritarian in approach. It becomes roaringly obvious once outright totalitarianism erupts into a national mainstream.
It?s also conspicuous in religion, and the line between comparing religion and tyrannical national almost amounts to the same thing; or as George Orwell mentioned in his essay, The Prevention of Literature, ? A totalitarian state is in effect a theocracy, and its ruling caste, in order to keep its position, has to be thought of as infallible.?
Orwell affords a great education on topics that are very much relevant today. Whether it?s religious control, national control, or the control of public opinion, because there exists in human psychology a susceptibility to such tactics, exploitation will remain. In another essay, Notes on Nationalism, Orwell states:
?Much of the propagandist writing of our time amounts to plain forgery. Material facts are suppressed, dates altered, quotations removed from their context and doctored so as to change their meaning. Events which it is felt ought not to have happened are left unmentioned and ultimately denied.?
This is also true of religious claims, and true of factions who other factions with a rabid desire for mass control. The best compliment you can pay yourself, reader, is that of self and social awareness. Be aware of euphemisms (one version is political correctness) and strange repetition involving the delivery of information.
When its structure becomes flagrantly artificial?
Only systems, structures, and organizations who cannot stand on their own merits will resort to tactics of secrecy, mystery, propaganda, and lastly, unnecessary force. Naturally, Orwell defines it better than myself:
?A society becomes totalitarian when its structure becomes flagrantly artificial: that is, when its ruling class has lost its function but succeeds in clinging to power by force or fraud. Such a society, no matter how long it persists, can never afford to become either tolerant or intellectually stable. It can never permit either the truthful recording of facts or the emotional sincerity that literary creation demands. But to be corrupted by totalitarianism one does not have to live in a totalitarian country. The mere prevalence of certain ideas can spread a kind of poison that makes one subject after another impossible for literary purposes. Wherever there is an enforced orthodoxy ? or even two orthodoxies, as often happens ? good writing stops.?
The line, ??when its structure becomes flagrantly artificial? is key to understanding such movements. When ?Fair and Balanced,? clearly isn?t fair and balanced, the euphemism is probably covering for something flagrant, artificial, or half-true (or not true at all), and is serving some agenda. ?And when it must be repeated, over and over like we?re fucking retarded, what?s flagrant and artificial should become obvious to our brains.
There exists extreme ?versions like North Korea, fundamentalist Islam, or Dark Ages Catholicism. In a similar light, there exists milder forms like Fox News. Either way, a collection of symptoms is always indicative of a disease, ranging from the common cold, to yellow fever. The cure: an aware version of yourself.
?Educate and inform the whole mass of the people? They are the only sure reliance for the preservation of our liberty.?
?Thomas Jefferson
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