Over the years, I have had the privilege of meeting and having discussions with people who came to America from countries known for their adherence to totalitarianism: China, Russia, and former east European satellites of the Soviet Union. When we discussed how the state managed to control public opinion under totalitarianism, these people would usually produce a weary, knowledgeable, cynical smile and point out that propaganda in those countries was really done quite incompetently. If you really want to know propaganda, they said, you need to study American propaganda technique. According to them, it is, undeniably, the best in the world.>Over the years, I have had the privilege of meeting and having discussions with people who came to America from countries known for their adherence to totalitarianism: China, Russia, and former east European satellites of the Soviet Union. When we discussed how the state managed to control public opinion under totalitarianism, these people would usually produce a weary, knowledgeable, cynical smile and point out that propaganda in those countries was really done quite incompetently. If you really want to know propaganda, they said, you need to study American propaganda technique. According to them, it is, undeniably, the best in the world
Unfortunately, one needs to leave the USA to find any serious questioning of right wing propaganda.
"How can that be?" I asked, honestly puzzled.
Propaganda in those countries was too obvious, they told me. As soon as you read the first sentence you knew it was a bunch of propaganda, so you didn’t even bother to read it. If you heard a speech, you knew in the first few words that it was propaganda, and you tuned it out.
"But," I then queried, "How do you know when it’s just propaganda?"
The expatriates explained that bad propaganda uses obvious terminology that anyone can see through. Anyone hearing the phrase "capitalist running dogs", knows he’s listening to incompetent propaganda and tunes it out. Lousy propaganda, these knowledgeable but jaded individuals would tell me, appeals to an abstract theory, to a rational thesis that can be disproved. Even though communists had total control of the press, the people just tuned it out (except for those who were the most mentally defective). Most people, they assured me, just went about their lives as best they could, paid lip service to the state, and just tried to keep out of the way of the secret police. But hardly anyone really believed the stuff. The result, after many decades of suffering, was the eventual collapse of the old order once The Great Leader expired, whether his name was Brezhnev, Mao, or Tito.
American propaganda, however, is much cleverer. American propaganda, they patiently explained, relies entirely on emotional appeals. It doesn’t depend on a rational theory that can be disproved: it appeals to things no one can object to.
American propaganda had its birth, so far as I can tell, in the advertising industry.
It's an interesting read for anyone who wants to understand the culture wars.
Since you didn't note this, I'll point it out: You're quoting from a novel. Interesting, but not what Dog Gone regards as evidence.
ReplyDeleteI didn't get the impression it was presented as evidence, greg.
DeleteI thought it was food for thought and discussion.
It sounds very accurate to me. One thought I had was, I'd still prefer the American version, at least so far. Does that make me patriotic?
But if I tried to use a novel or movie or other work of art as food for thought, Dog Gone would pounce, telling me that I have no critical thinking skills and only argue from emotion.
DeleteWe all have a soft spot for our friends, I suppose.
"American propaganda, however, is much cleverer. American propaganda, they patiently explained, relies entirely on emotional appeals. It doesn’t depend on a rational theory that can be disproved"
ReplyDeleteSort of reminds me of gun control. They rely on emotional appeals since the truth is not on their side. "Its for the children", "If only it saves one life it is worth the sacrifice", "there will be blood in the streets", etc., etc.
Bring rational thought to the argument and everyone is pro-gun.
Laci The Dog, beside some of the errors in the post. the repeat at the start
ReplyDeleteThis was a post that would easily be turned.
against you and your side of the culture war.
by the definition most of what passes for gun-control is of propaganda.
the Assault weapon ban
passed even though the weapons targeted where not contributing to problem. 1/10 of 1% used in crime.
and the Clinton administration used a widow who husband died in a car crash a the face of the movement again gun violence.
Most of all gun-control passed in any country can be rooted to few events like mass shooting or criminal organizations.