Q: How effective is propaganda, and where do we see the same tools and tactics that make propaganda effective in our daily lives?
A: Anybody who feels informed about complex subjects who hasn’t read at least two serious books, or passed an undergraduate course in the matter is subject to propaganda. All you really need to understand is that every nation on earth has its version of the CIA, and they are always spitting out propaganda. Right here. Right now.
It could be me. It could be Greta Thunberg. It could be Tucker Carlson. It could be a viral YouTuber, it could be anyone on Twitter.
What you really need to think about is who benefits if people think X about some subject. If it really matters and all of the media is talking about it, then some intelligence agency in some corner of the world is planting stories.
Clearly the current international event all are talking about is the execution of Quds leader Qasem Soleimani. It’s in some nations’ interest to make Americans feel guilty and blame America for anything and everything about that matter. Even though this incident hasn’t risen to any declaration in the UN - you can bet that every time something does rise to the level of a UN resolution, dozens of countries are going to be spreading propaganda to support their position and make opposing countries look bad.
The US is unique in that we have a lot of disposable income, free time, and political interests. Americans are always looking to argue about something. All I have to say is ‘comments section’ and you know what I mean. Believe me there are government departments dedicated to pushing information onto the American public.
If I say ‘Brexit’, you say what? And what is the book you read about the history of the EU? You cannot name any of the experts whose opinion helped form your opinion. You can’t name how many sources of information comprise the cloud of information in your head. You don’t have footnotes in your brain or in notes that you have taken and rechecked over time. But you might connect “nationalism” with … what? When is the last time you thought about the nature of nationalism on your own unprompted from media? Is nationalism good or bad? Why are you even thinking about it? It’s in somebody’s interest to make you question what you know, or make you think about what you never really thought about before. If you’re following the news, then you’re following an agenda for putting stuff in your head that you didn’t create.
One last thing, because people have been asking me about how much advertising and non-school ‘education’ affects what people know. If you can, find an Asian market in your town. Try a 99 Ranch Market or Mitsua Marketplace or H-Mart or Marukai. Oh yeah Patel Brothers or T&T. Easy for me in SoCal, maybe not easy for you. The point is that you go into a supermarket and you don’t know anything about the brands. You don’t know which bread to buy. Which is the premium soy sauce? There is a huge gap between your knowledge about American brands and other country’s brands. You will be lost until you get to the produce section, because there your own skill in picking fruits and vegetables takes over. You know a good avocado. You know a bad banana when you see one. When you are shopping, you don’t take any time to switch over from one way of knowing a good product to another way. Everything in a can or a package you know originally from marketing. That’s how propaganda works.
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