By Howard Nema
We are blasted with it everyday. From the moment Our eyes open until we go to sleep our waking hours are spent absorbing thousands of messages, some repeated over and over again.
From the moment we turn on the TV in the morning our eyes are assaulted. Then our ears are assaulted as we hear it on the car radio on the way to work as we cruise along an endless stream of signs and billboards conveying hundreds of visual messages. By nightfall we have been inundated with thousands of messages.
These messages are very repetitive and over time do in fact create many of Our belief systems. Other repetitive messages are absorbed subconsciously.
Propaganda. By definition it means a specific message aimed at serving an agenda. The most common use of the term refers to efforts sponsored by governments or political groups.
In essence, propaganda is a form of mind control. The aim is to actively influence people's opinions, rather than to merely communicate the facts about something. For example, propaganda might be used to garner either support or disapproval of a certain position, rather than to simply present the position.
What separates propaganda from "normal" communication is in the subtle, often insidious, ways that the message attempts to shape opinion. For example, propaganda is often presented in a way that attempts to deliberately evoke a strong emotion, especially by suggesting non-logical, non-intuitive relationships between concepts.
An appeal to one's emotions is, however, more obvious a propaganda method than utilized by some other less overt and perhaps even more insidious forms, for instance, propaganda may be transmitted implicitly. Propaganda can be transmitted within the realms of an ostensibly fair and balanced debate or argument like on a broadcast news format or talk show.
A common characteristic of propaganda is mass awareness of the agenda. Here the propagandist seeks to influence opinion by attempting to get the message heard in as many places as possible, and as often as possible. The intention of this approach is to reinforce an idea through repetition, and drown-out or exclude any alternative ideas.
Propaganda shares many techniques with advertising. In fact, advertising can be thought of as propaganda that promotes a commercial product. However, propaganda usually has political or nationalist themes. Propaganda can take the form of leaflets, posters, TV, and radio broadcasts and can also extend to any other medium.
The propagandist seeks to change the way people understand an issue or situation for the purpose of changing their actions and expectations in ways that are desirable to the interest group.
In this sense, propaganda serves as form of censorship in which the same purpose is achieved by preventing people from being confronted with opposing points of view.
Propaganda involves the willingness to change people's understanding through deception and confusion rather than persuasion and understanding.
The leaders of an organization know the information to be one sided or untrue, but this may not be true for the rank and file members who help to disseminate the propaganda.
Propaganda is a mighty weapon in war. In this case its aim is usually to dehumanize and create hatred toward a supposed enemy, either internal or external. The technique is to create a false image in the mind.
This can be done by using special words, special avoidance of words or by saying that the enemy is responsible for certain things he never did. Most propaganda wars require the home population to feel the enemy has inflicted an injustice, which may be fictitious or may be based on facts. The home population must also decide that the cause of their nation is just.
Propaganda is also one of the methods used in psychological warfare. It is classified according to the source. White propaganda comes from an openly identified source. Black propaganda pretends to be from a friendly source, but is actually from an adversary. Grey propaganda pretends to be from a neutral source, but comes from an adversary.
Propaganda may be administered in very insidious ways. For instance, disparaging disinformation about history, certain groups, or foreign countries may be encouraged or tolerated in the educational system.
Since very few people actually double-check what they learn at school, such disinformation will be repeated by journalists as well as parents, thus reinforcing the idea that the disinformation item is really a "well-known fact," even though no one repeating the myth is able to point to an authoritative source. This of course works to the social controllers advantage.
The disinformation is then recycled in the media and indoctrinated in the educational system, without the need for direct governmental intervention on the media. Such propaganda may be used for political goals by giving the sheople a false impression of the quality or policies of their country.
Propaganda itself has been a human activity as far back as reliable recorded evidence exists. The writings of Romans like Livy are considered masterpieces of pro-Roman statist propaganda.
Modern propaganda techniques were first applied by journalist Walter Lippman and psychologist Edward Bernays (nephew of Sigmund Freud) early in the 20th century.
Lippman and Bernays were hired by the United States President, Woodrow Wilson during World War I to sway popular opinion to enter the war on the side of Britain in the Creel Commission.
Lippman and Bernays' war propaganda campaign produced such intense anti-German
hysteria that American businessmen quickly noticed the potential of using propaganda to control public opinion. Bernays coined the terms "group mind" and "engineering consent," important concepts in practical propaganda work.
The current public relations industry is a direct outgrowth of Lippman and Bernays' work and is still used extensively by the United States government, celebrities and major corporations.
After Hitler took power in 1933, Joseph Goebbels was placed in charge of the Ministry for Public Enlightenment and Propaganda. Propaganda led the Rise of the Third Reich.
The Nazis believed in propaganda as a vital tool in achieving their goals. Adolf Hitler, Germany's Führer, was impressed by the power of Allied propaganda during World War I and believed that it had been a primary cause of the collapse of morale and revolts in the German home front and Navy in 1918.
Hitler would meet nearly every day with Goebbels to discuss the news and Goebbels would obtain Hitler's thoughts on the subject; Goebbels would then meet with senior Ministry officials and pass down the official Party line on world events.
Broadcasters and journalists required prior approval before their works were released. In addition, Adolf Hitler and other high ranking Nazis like Reinhard Heydrich had no moral qualms about spreading propaganda which they themselves knew to be false. Deliberately spreading false information was part of a doctrine known as the Big Lie.
Nazi propaganda flourished before the start of World War II. German audiences were continually reminded of the struggle of the Nazi Party and Germany against foreign enemies and internal enemies, especially Jews.
At the outset and throughout World War II propaganda flowed like bullets and was used as a weapon of war by both Germany and England. Goebbels required that all journalists, writers, and artists register with one of the Ministry's subordinate chambers for the press, fine arts, music, theater, film, literature, or radio to assure the Third Reich was properly represented.
Ethnic Germans in Czechoslovakia, Poland, the Soviet Union, and the Baltic states were told that blood ties to Germany were stronger than their allegiance to their new countries. Potential enemies, such as France and Britain, were told that Germany had no quarrel with the people of the country, but that their governments were trying to start a war with Germany. All were constantly reminded of the greatness of German cultural, scientific, and military achievements.
German propaganda emphasized the prowess of German arms and the supposed "humanity" German soldiers had shown to the peoples of occupied territories. Of course we know of the kind, merciful humanity displayed by the Nazis, don't we?
In contrast, British and Allied fliers were depicted as cowardly murderers, and Americans in particular as gangsters like Al Capone. At the same time, German propaganda sought to alienate Americans and British from each other, and both these Western belligerents from the Soviets.
After the loss at Stalingrad, the main theme changed. Germany was now depicted as the sole defender of what they called "Western European culture" against the "Bolshevist hordes" by the propaganda machine. The introduction of the V-1 and V-2 "vengeance weapons" was used as a psychological weapon to convince Britain that it their efforts to win the war are hopelessness.
Of course, the United States and the Soviet Union both used propaganda extensively before during and after World War II and throughout the Cold War. Both sides used film, television and radio programming to influence their own citizens, each other and Third World nations.
In 1948, the Britain Foreign Office created the Information Research Department and took over the Ministry of Information dispensing propaganda via various media such as the BBC and publishing.
George Orwell AKA Eric Blair worked in propaganda for British Intelligence. Orwell is of the most insightful and prophetic authors of the early Cold War, whose novels Animal Farm and 1984 are virtual textbooks on the use of propaganda and the efforts to social control humanity under a totalitarian dictatorship where language and thought is constantly corrupted for political purposes. These novels were used for explicit propaganda.
Orwell's anti-Communist book Animal Farm was produced into an animated Hollywood film secretly funded by the CIA.
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FRANK WISNER head of CIA Operation Mockingbird
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In the 1950's the United States Information Agency operated the Voice of America as an official government station. Radio Free Europe and Radio Liberty, in part is supported by the Central Intelligence Agency and provided grey propaganda in news and entertainment programs to Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union respectively via Operation Mockingbird which continues to this day as a CIA black-operation.
The Soviet Union's official government station, Radio Moscow, broadcast white propaganda, while Radio Peace and Freedom broadcast grey propaganda. Both sides also broadcast black propaganda programs in periods of special crises.
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| FRANK WISNER JR |
In the 1960's Cuba served as both a major source and a target of propaganda from both black and white stations operated by the CIA and Cuban exile groups. In turn, Radio Habana Cuba broadcast original programming and The Voice of Vietnam as well as relayed Radio Moscow.
In the 2001 Afghan invasion, psychological operations tactics (PsyOps) were employed to demoralize the Taliban and to win the sympathies of the Afghan population. Aircraft were used to jam local radio transmissions and transmit replacement
propaganda messages.
A number of techniques based on psycho-social research are used to generate propaganda. Many of these techniques can be found under logical fallacies since propagandists use arguments that while sometimes convincing are not necessarily valid. Amazingly, Obama has used just about all of them.
So have the other puppets-in-chief like Bush, Clinton, Bush. Reagan, Carter, Ford, Nixon, Johnson.
They all have.
Identifying these messages is necessary to study the methods by which they are spread.
It is essential to have some knowledge of the following techniques for generating propaganda:
Appeals to fear seek to build support by instilling fear in the general population. The Nazis Joseph Goebbels uses this technique to great effect and with fiending irony, claiming the Allies sought the extermination of the German people as the Nazi's were exterminating the Jews.
Appeals to authority cite prominent figures to support a position idea, argument, or course of action.
Jump on the Bandwagon: Bandwagon and inevitable-victory appeals attempt to persuade the target audience to take the course of action that "everyone else is taking." Obama successfuly executed this ruse in the 2008 Election.
Join the crowd: This technique reinforces people's natural desire to be on the winning side. This technique is used to convince the audience that a program is an expression of an irresistible mass movement and that it is in their best interest to join.
Stereotyping or Labeling: This technique attempts to arouse prejudices in an audience by labeling the object of the propaganda campaign as something the target audience fears, hates, loathes, or finds undesirable. Eric Holder and the Obama Adminstration use this technique for political cover for their crimes and treason.
For instance, reporting on a foreign country or social group may focus on the stereotypical traits that the reader expects, even though they are far from being representative of the whole country or group. Like the false image Americans have that all Middle Easterners live in impoverished huts and drive camels when in truth their cities are just as modern and metropolitan as any U.S. city.
Inevitable victory: invites those not already on the bandwagon to join those already on the road to certain victory. Those already or at least partially on the bandwagon are reassured that staying aboard is their best course of action. Again, an Obama technique. Of course other globalist traitors like GW Bush, Clinton and GHW Bush all used these very same techniques during their administrations to forward the New World Order Agenda. Obama is simply the current puppet-in-chief.
Direct order: This technique hopes to simplify the decision making process. The propagandist uses images and words to tell the audience exactly what actions to take, eliminating any other possible choices. Authority figures can be used to give the order, overlapping it with the Appeal to authority technique, but not necessarily. The Uncle Sam "I want you" image is an example of this technique.
Glittering Generalities is another technique. Where intense, emotionally appealing words closely associated with valued concepts and beliefs carry conviction without supporting information or reason. This is powerful and all to common a trait in all Our politicians. This technique appeals to emotions such as love of country, home, honor, freedom, glory, desire for peace and so on.
The propagandist asks for approval without examination of the reason. The words and phrases are vague and suggest different things, but the concepts and programs are always good, desirable and virtuous. Obama uses this one a lot!
Rationalization: Individuals or groups may use favorable generalities to rationalize questionable acts or beliefs. Vague and pleasant phrases are often used to justify such actions or beliefs.
Intentional Vagueness: Generalities are deliberately vague so that the audience may supply its own interpretations. The intention is to move the audience by use of undefined phrases, without analyzing their validity or attempting to determine their reasonableness or application. This is an Obama hallmark.
Common man: The "common man" approach attempts to convince the audience that the propagandist's positions reflect the common sense of the people.
This technique is designed to win the confidence of the audience by communicating in the common manner and style of the target audience. Propagandists use ordinary language and mannerisms and attempt to identify their point of view with the target group, or the average person.
Obama uses this technique frequently as then jets off to multi million dollar taxpayer paid vacations to Martha's Vineyard while illegal aliens swarm across Our border, World War III is brewing in the Middle East and the Ukraine and the CDC says it is inevitable that Ebola will spread here in the United States.
Scapegoating: Assigning blame to an individual or group that isn't really responsible, thus alleviating feelings of guilt from responsible parties and/or distracting attention from the need to fix the problem for which blame is being assigned. Another Obama trademark.
Virtue words: These are words which tend to produce a positive image when attached to a person or issue. Peace, happiness, security, wise leadership, freedom, etc. are virtue words. This is one of Obama's most powerful tools of deception.
Slogans: A slogan is a brief, striking phrase that may include labeling and stereotyping. If ideas can be made into slogans, they should be, as good slogans are self-perpetuating.
Transfer: Also known as association, this is a technique of projecting positive or negative qualities of a person to another in order to make the second more acceptable. This technique is generally used to transfer blame from one member of a conflict to another. I don't want to sound like a broken record but: Another Obama strategy.
Oversimplification: Favorable generalities are used to provide simple answers to complex social, political, economic, or military problems. An executive blow off.
Testimonial: Testimonials are quotations, in or out of context, especially cited to support or reject a given policy, action, program, or personality. The reputation or the role (expert, respected public figure, etc.) of the individual giving the statement is exploited.
The testimonial places the official sanction of a respected person or authority on a propaganda message. This is done in an effort to cause the target audience to identify itself with the authority or to accept the authority's opinions and beliefs as its own.
Propaganda messages are spread across the newswires, government reports, historical revision, books, leaflets, movies, radio, television, even posters. In the case of radio and television, propaganda can exist on news, current-affairs or talk-show segments, as advertising or as public-service announcements.
Propaganda is all around us. Only critical thinking, common sense and research will lead us to the truth. It is not an easy task, but it is the only way.
Much of what we are exposed to is disinformation designed to evoke a certain measureable response that can be used manipulate public opinion toward the propagandists goal. The motive can be legal profit as in the use of advertising, branding and slogans. Or it can be more nefarious as used by oligarchs and despots in their quest for a New World Order.
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