Admit it, we all love Propaganda

I say it, you believe it. THAT would be a useful superpower, don't you think? With that power I could build or destroy anything I wanted, have countless followers do my every bidding, even conquer the world.

Here's the mind blowing part---people have or are currently using this superpower already.

I'm referring to propaganda, which you would have known already had you read the title of this blog entry (shame on you if you didn't). There are two very crucial elements to effective propaganda: WHAT is being said, and HOW it is being said. Watch the following video before we proceed (and you better watch it this time--I don't post this stuff because I'm bored):


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jpEnFwiqdx8&feature=related



Don't you feel smaller? Maybe even a bit amazed or scared? Maybe you feel threatened by the so called improvements of the human race? Let's stop and think--why do you feel this way?

Well, let's analyze it from the propaganda perspective:

WHAT was being said? If I may summarize it (which I can because I'm writing this blog entry and you're just the reader--nyah!), I believe the message is the processing of information is not what it used to be--our world has made humongous strides and is rapidly becoming a place where everyone thinks they have access to everything (by the way, they don't--it's just a myth that you can have anything you want. I already called dibs on whatever it was before you).

HOW was that message conveyed? Quite simple, actually. It presented related facts in a progressing pattern. You saw what was, is, and perhaps what will be. Imagine, if you will, a snowball rolling down a snowy mountainside at you. It seems small at first, but it gets bigger because (1) it's closer and (2) it's accumulated more snow and increased in size. I like how the video ends with "What does it all mean?" or as my analogy puts it "What do you do when the ever-growing snowball reaches you?"

I'm not going to answer those questions, mostly because I don't have a clue of what those answers are. Regardless, let me amaze you all anyways. I'll do so by making my point for this blog entry---we, the viewers and listeners of this media filled world, are the targeted puppets of the makers of the media.

That's what propaganda, in all of its many forms, is trying to do--make you do something (watch what strings you pull!). The really scary thing is the WHAT is being said doesn't even have to be true, so long as HOW it is being said gets to you. Watch commercials closely--you'll really see the media puppet masters at work there. They want you to buy/do something.

Now that you know all this, let me teach you about responsibility. If you're one who helps make the media, please, for Heaven's sake, make your message safe. Hopefully that doesn't fall on deaf ears, otherwise we could have another Hitler and/or Nazi Germany pop up somewhere (review your history--the Third Reich had propaganda masters working for them). If you are one receiving the propaganda message, please realize that the message you receive doesn't have to be the message that was sent. Be an objective, not a subjective receiver.






By the way, Doc Waters, knowing all of what I have just written about, has assigned us to do a digital story. We, her students, have been asked to put together a short moving presentation of any topic we want and share it with the class. In other words, we get to try our hand at this propaganda thingy. Am I able to handle this new superpower? Let me put on my mask and cape and we'll find out . . .