Propaganda: How We’ve Been and are Being Manipulated

Propaganda definitions include:

“… information, especially of a biased or misleading nature, used to promote or publicize a particular political cause or point of view.”

“… the spreading of ideas, information, or rumor for the purpose of helping or injuring an institution, a cause, or a person.”

“… ideas, facts, or allegations spread deliberately to further one's cause or to damage an opposing cause.”

Wikipedia says: “A wide range of materials and media are used for conveying propaganda messages, which changed as new technologies were invented, including paintings, cartoons, posters, pamphlets, films, radio shows, TV shows, and websites. More recently, the digital age has given rise to new ways of disseminating propaganda, for example, bots and algorithms are currently being used to create computational propaganda and fake or biased news and spread it on social media.”

Basically, it’s manipulation using words, lies, and pretty promises to get people on your side. Governments and big businesses use propaganda in their speeches and advertising all the time. And it’s gone on for centuries.

I first heard about propaganda when it was referred to Hitler and the Nazis. At the time, I didn’t realize that every government for centuries have used it. After all, it’s how they got the masses to believe in them and support them.

 Lies are used to get people on board with what officials want. “Tell people what they want to hear” and they’ll follow you anywhere. Promise them free stuff and they’ll follow you faster.

 So, it’s important to think about what you’re hearing. Yes, it may sound good, but can they really do/provide what they promise? And there’s that old adage: “If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.” So, don’t give in to what you want to hear.

Leaders will lie about anything to get your support. And most of them have others writing their speeches for them, so the words coming out of their mouths might not even be what they fully believe. It’s just all about getting your vote, and they’ll say and promise anything to get it.

Key factors to consider are: Do the politicians and officials have to live by the same rules they dictate to you? How many laws are passed to “protect” those in office or position – protection the everyday citizen doesn’t get? And what about politicians getting monies from big businesses to pay for their campaigns? Then they have to dance to the corporations who supported them.

Then there’s the repetition. We learn by repetition. So, if we’re told something over and over and over, when do we start believing it – even if it isn’t true? And hey, if these rich, important people are saying it, it must be true, isn’t it?

It was one thing many years ago before people were educated. People had to believe what they were told. They really didn’t know any better. But now, there’s a lot of information out there. Unfortunately, it’s hard to weed through it all to know what is fact and what is snake-oil selling.

 

What is Real Liberty?

I looked up a couple of definitions:

“Freedom from arbitrary and unreasonable restraint upon an individual. Freedom from restraint refers to more than just physical restraint, but also the freedom to act according to one's own will.

“The freedom to live as you wish or go where you want: For most citizens, liberty means the freedom to practice their religious or political beliefs.”

 “The quality or state of being free:

a: the power to do as one pleases

b: freedom from physical restraint

c: freedom from arbitrary or despotic control

d: the positive enjoyment of various social, political, or economic rights and privileges

e: the power of choice”

How much of that really fits the everyday U.S. citizen? Do these ideals only pertain to the wealthy and the elite?

I certainly don’t feel much freedom these days. The cost of living is exorbitant. I feel more and more chains and leashes are put on us from laws and government to the way we’re controlled by Big Pharma and huge corporations. (Don’t even get me started on the medical profession. What a joke that is now! It’s no longer about helping people be healthy. It’s often said, “They don’t make money off healthy people.”)

Then, more and more, we’re being forced to shop online and having to jump through all kinds of hoops dealing with that. In physical stores, there are often empty shelves. And all this has opened the doors to more scams, thefts, and illegal activities.

Making phone calls has turned into a total nightmare with the robo-gauntlet of a myriad of pre-recorded questions, the upselling in between, and being put on hold. And they keep saying how important your call is to them. Yeah, like the really care about you. What a joke. Then half the time, the real person who finally answers the phone can’t give you reasonable information. And they call this good customer service.

Good customer service, like other words and phrases bandied about these days, have become meaningless words whose definitions are totally opposite than what they originally intended.

Transparency is another one of those words. Every time I hear that word, I’m wondering what they’re hiding.

As in other civilizations, there is a vast division between the wealthy elite and the poor with the middle-class taxpayers falling closer and closer to the poor side, especially the elderly. The noose tightens.