Propaganda: Do You Know You’re Soaking In It?
"Each and every day we are subject to propaganda, yet many of us are oblivious to the fact that we are being manipulated so frequently. In light of compelling information and evidence which supports largely predictable outcomes, propaganda can be used to confuse, obstruct, and distract individuals and society from clearly understanding the issues at hand. As we face serious and interconnected challenges, it is important to understand the role propaganda plays in society.
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Apart from the inability to disseminate large volumes of information, the main difficulty in distinguishing propaganda from other types of biases is in its subjectivity. For one party the information communicated may be seen as educational, yet for the other party it may be seen as propaganda. Propaganda is about presenting facts and information selectively and impartially so that the message elicits an emotional response. Propaganda is everywhere and is disseminated through media outlets, by politicians, by governments, educational institutions, corporations and through the entertainment industry. Here are some great quotes from Orwell, Chomsky, Pilger, Smith, and Vidal who understand the role propaganda plays in society.
Propaganda in War and Terrorism
“One of the most horrible features of war is that all the war-propaganda, all the screaming and lies and hatred, comes invariably from people who are not fighting.” George Orwell
“As societies grow decadent, the language grows decadent, too. Words are used to disguise, not to illuminate, action: You liberate a city by destroying it. Words are used to confuse, so that at election time people will solemnly vote against their own interests.” Gore Vidal
“The most effective way to destroy people is to deny and obliterate their own understanding of their history.” George Orwell
Propaganda in Business and Corporations
“All over the place, from the popular culture to the propaganda system, there is constant pressure to make people feel that they are helpless, that the only role they can have is to ratify decisions and to consume.” Noam Chomsky
“People who own the society, the merchants and manufacturers, they are the architects of government policy and they design it in their own interest of course no matter how grievous the effect is on others. The point of corporate propaganda and the educational system is to instill these beliefs and it works pretty well.” Adam Smith
“There is massive propaganda for everyone to consume. Consumption is good for profits and consumption is good for the political establishment.” Noam Chomsky
“The major western democracies are moving towards corporatism. Democracy has become a business plan, with a bottom line for every human activity, every dream, every decency, every hope. The main parliamentary parties are now devoted to the same economic policies — socialism for the rich, capitalism for the poor — and the same foreign policy of servility to endless war. This is not democracy. It is to politics what McDonalds is to food.” John Pilger"
http://www.collective-evolution.com/2015/08/05/propaganda-do-you-know-youre-soaking-in-it/
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One sure sign you are being fed propaganda is when the media stops referring to countries by name but instead singles out one person in leadership there to demonize and then trivialize the issue at hand. It stops being about Iraq, but becomes about Sadam, for example. It stops being about Syria, but becomes about Assad.