Propaganda

The word Propaganda sparks the image of evil. But it did not start that way as an evil word. My research shows that the word originated or was “coined” in 1622 when Pope Gregory XV, after being scared silly by the rise of Protestantism, and the Pope made recommendations to the Roman curia. The Office for the Propagation of the Faith (Congregatio de propaganda fide) would supervise all the efforts to fight against Protestants’ rise in the New World. The idea was to promote the Church’s truth to prevent lies from spreading about Catholicism and for all to keep the faith.

In 1842, a British chemist, William Thomas Brande, wrote and implied the word “propaganda” was viewed by governments as a “horror” and “aversion” of governments. The Oxford English Dictionary defined the word as “Any association, systemic scheme, or concerted movement for the propagation of a particular doctrine or practice.” A primarily neutral word. In practice, the concept was used to help inform the masses that vaccinations were good, sanitary conditions were needed, and overall health would improve if you followed the science and government recommendations. These ideas were used positively to help humanity. The word, for the most part, fell into disuse until World War I.

The British and American efforts in the war discovered that well-chosen words attacking the enemy, “the Hun,” were highly effective at persuading the public to fall in line and see the countries’ enemies as evil, and it worked. Noted Capitalists like General Motors, John D. Rockefeller, and General Electric, to name a few, discovered that the right words influenced people to buy their products after WWI. Today, the word propaganda is viewed as evil, an orchestrated attempt at demonic influence to use as a hammer to shape public opinion and suppress thought and free speech. Here is an example by Dennis Prager.

“I Now Better Understand the ‘Good German’
Dennis Prager. (originally posted on Townhall.com.)

“As my listeners and readers can hopefully attest, I have been on a lifelong quest to understand human nature and human behavior. I am sad to report that I have learned more in the last few years, particularly in 2020, than in any equivalent period of time.

One of the biggest revelations concerns a question that has always plagued me: How does one explain the “good German,” the term used to describe the average, presumably decent German, who did nothing to hurt Jews but also did nothing to help them and did nothing to undermine the Nazi regime? The same question could be asked about the average Frenchman during the Vichy era, the average Russian under Lenin, Joseph Stalin, Leonid Brezhnev and their successors, and the millions of others who did nothing to help their fellow citizens under oppressive dictatorships.

These past few years have taught me not to so quickly judge the quiet German, Russian, etc. Of course, I still judge Germans who helped the Nazis and Germans who in any way hurt Jews. But the Germans who did nothing? Not so fast.

What has changed my thinking has been watching what is happening in America (and Canada and Australia and elsewhere, for that matter).
The ease with which tens of millions of Americans have accepted irrational, unconstitutional and unprecedented police state-type restrictions on their freedoms, including even the freedom to make a living, has been, to understate the case, sobering.

The same holds true for the acceptance by most Americans of the rampant censorship on Twitter and all other major social media platforms. Even physicians and other scientists are deprived of freedom of speech if, for example, they offer scientific support for hydroxychloroquine along with zinc to treat COVID-19 in the early stages. Board-certified physician Dr. Vladimir Zelenko, who has saved hundreds of COVID-19 patients from suffering and/or death, has been banned from Twitter for publicizing his lifesaving hydroxychloroquine and zinc protocol.

Half of America, the non-left half, is afraid to speak their minds at virtually every university, movie studio and large corporation — indeed, at virtually every place of work. Professors who say anything that offends the left fear being ostracized if they have tenure and being fired if they do not. People are socially ostracized, publicly shamed and/or fired for differing with Black Lives Matter, as America-hating and white-hating a group as has ever existed. And few Americans speak up. On the contrary, when BLM protestors demand that diners outside of restaurants raise their fists to show their support of BLM, nearly every diner does.

So, then, who are we to condemn the average German who faced the Gestapo if he didn’t salute Hitler or the average Russian who faced the NKVD (the secret police and intelligence agency that preceded the KGB) if he didn’t demonstrate sufficient enthusiasm for Stalin? Americans face the left’s cancel culture, but not left-wing secret police or reeducation camps. (At least not yet — I have little doubt the left would send outspoken conservatives to reeducation camps if they could.)

I have come to understand the average German living under Nazism and the average Russian living under communism for another reason: the power of the media to brainwash.

As a student of totalitarianism since my graduate studies at the Russian Institute of Columbia University’s School of International Affairs (as it was then known), I have always believed that only in a dictatorship could a society be brainwashed. I was wrong. I now understand that mass brainwashing can take place in a nominally free society. The incessant left-wing drumbeat of The New York Times, The Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times and almost every other major newspaper, plus The Atlantic, The New Yorker, CNN, ABC, CBS, NBC, PBS, NPR, all of Hollywood and almost every school from kindergarten through graduate school, has brainwashed at least half of America every bit as effectively as the German, Soviet and Chinese communist press did (and in the latter case, still does). That thousands of schools will teach the lie that is the New York Times’ “1619 Project” is one of countless examples.

Prior to the lockdowns, I flew almost every week of the year, so I was approached by people who recognized me on a regular basis. Increasingly, I noticed that people would look around to see if anyone was within earshot and then tell me in almost a whisper: “I support Trump” or, “I’m a conservative.” The last time people looked around and whispered things to me was when I used to visit the Soviet Union.

In Quebec this past weekend, as one can see on a viral video, a family was fined and members arrested because six — yes, six — people gathered to celebrate the new year. A neighbor snitched on them, and the celebrants were duly arrested. The Quebec government lauded the snitches and asked for more public “collaboration.”

Snitches are likewise lauded and encouraged in some Democrat-run states and cities in America (Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti in March: “Snitches get rewards”) and by left-wing governments in Australia. Plenty of Americans, Canadians and Australians are only too happy to snitch on people who refuse to lock down their lives.

All this is taking place without concentration camps, without a Gestapo, without a KGB and without Maoist reeducation camps.
That’s why I no longer judge the average German as easily as I used to. Apathy in the face of tyranny turns out not to be a German or Russian characteristic. I just never thought it could happen in America.” (End)

Words have power. In her excellent book Sharyl Attkisson, a former CBS reporter, outlines the use of words like “Baseless, without evidence, debunked, conspiracy theory” used in the media broadcasts each night. The mainstream media is well versed in the use of propaganda to persuade the masses to a socialist perspective. You are being influenced and, in some cases, without knowing it. You need to be aware of what you are listening to and how it affects your thinking and views. Here is a short quote from an internet post:

“This quote came from the Czech Republic. Someone over there has it figured out.

It was translated into English from an article in a Prague newspaper.”

“The danger to America is not Joseph Biden, but a citizenry capable of entrusting a man like him with the Presidency. It will be far easier to limit and undo the follies of a Biden presidency than to restore the necessary common sense and good judgment to a depraved electorate willing to have such a man for their president. The problem is much deeper and far more serious than Mr. Biden, who is a mere symptom of what ails America. Blaming the prince of the fools should not blind anyone to the vast confederacy of fools that made him their prince. The American Republic can survive a Biden, who is, after all, merely a fool. It is less likely to survive a multitude of fools, such as those who made him their president.” (End)

The power of persuasion can not be overrated. The better you are educated on the issues, the better you can combat the ideology being forced down our throats every time you turn on the T.V. or read an article. A perfect example of this is the talking heads on T.V. during interviews. They are dogmatic in their views, steadfast in their propaganda, and appear not to hear the other side’s point of view. Of course, I am referring to the Democrats. The reaction from opposing speakers and sometimes the show’s host is disbelief in what is taking place. The propaganda is working. Our country is in for one hell of a ride over the next several years. Do not fall victim to the biden administration propaganda. He, biden, does this daily by invoking the ghost of “Jim Crow” laws that no longer exist in this country. He is flat out lying!