Download PHIL 2505 Lec 11 Propaganda

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PHIL 2505
Lec 11
Propaganda
Purpose:
 to promote homogeneity of thought and deed
 to encourage efficient identification of us and them
 to limit our capacity to think and act for ourselves
 to lose our individual selves in the group
 to fear and desire what others want us to fear and desire
 ….
Is it always a bad thing?
Is all persuasive communication propagandistic??
Are only wartime messages propaganda??
Are only dishonest messages propaganda.???
Is there such a thing as ‘good propaganda”?
----------------------------------Lord Ponsonby's assertion:
'the injection of the poison of hatred into men's minds by means of falsehood is a
greater evil in wartime than the actual loss of life. The defilement of the human soul
is worse than the destruction of the human body'.
-----------------------------Harold Lasswell on propaganda:
"Not bombs nor bread, but words, pictures, songs, parades, and many similar devices are
the typical means of making propaganda."
According to Lasswell:
“propaganda relies on symbols to attain its end: the manipulation of collective attitudes.”
“Propaganda can be as blatant as a swastika or as subtle as a joke. Its persuasive
techniques are regularly applied by politicians, advertisers, journalists, radio
personalities, and others who are interested in influencing human behavior.”
"The enormous gap between what US leaders do in the world and what Americans think
their leaders are doing is one of the great propaganda accomplishments of the dominant
political mythology."
Michael Parenti
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"Every day we are bombarded with one persuasive communication after another. These
appeals persuade not through the give-and-take of argument and debate, but through the
manipulation of symbols and of our most basic human emotions. For better or worse,
ours is an age of propaganda."
(Pratkanis and Aronson, 1991)
Seven propaganda devices identified in the late 1930’s:
Name-Calling,
Glittering Generality
Transfer
Testimonial
Plain Folks
Card Stacking
Band Wagon
Name-Calling
"Bad names have played a tremendously powerful role in the history of the world and in
our own individual development. They have ruined reputations, stirred men and women
to outstanding accomplishments, sent others to prison cells, and made men mad enough
to enter battle and slaughter their fellowmen. They have been and are applied to other
people, groups, gangs, tribes, colleges, political parties, neighborhoods, states, sections of
the country, nations, and races."
(Institute for Propaganda Analysis, 1938)
Language can fuel, or abate, public fears about bioengineered foods, for example
Frankenfoods
or
miracle crops to help feed a hungry world
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Apply a label that says everything
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And no one has to think about anything
Transfer device
You shall not press down upon the brow of labor this crown of thorns. You shall not
crucify mankind upon a cross of gold!
-- William Jennings Bryan, 1896
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White propaganda: distributed by who it says distributes it
Grey propaganda: nameless, faceless
Black propaganda: purports to be from a different source entirely
A famous examples of Black Propaganda:
Guard Against Venereal Diseases
Lately there has been a great increase in the number of venereal diseases among
our officers and men owing to prolific contacts with Filipino women of dubious
character.
Due to hard times and stricken conditions brought about by the Japanese
occupation of the islands, Filipino women are willing to offer themselves for a
small amount of foodstuffs. It is advisable in such cases to take full protective
measures by use of condoms, protective medicines, etc.; better still to hold
intercourse only with wives, virgins, or women of respective character.
Furthermore, in view of the increase in pro-American leanings, many Filipino
women are more than willing to offer themselves to American soldiers, and due to
the fact that Filipinos have no knowledge of hygiene, disease carriers are
rampant and due care must be taken.
US Army
Card StackingTechniques:
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Overemphasis
Underemphasis
Dodging issues
Evading facts
Distortion
Lying
Censorship
Half-truths
False testimony
Changing the issue (red herrings)
Hiding the truth
Sham (fakery)
Hypocrisy
"How To Detect Propaganda" [Adapted from Shaw, 33-38]
The Name Calling
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used to form a judgment without examining the facts. this device works with good and
bad names.
The Glittering Generalities Device
uses "virtue words" that often appeal to emotions of love, generosity by using words
which suggest shining ideals. These words are used to "befog" our thinking and avoid the
need for critical thinking. "Bad words" make us mad while "good words" make us glad.
The Transfer Device
carrying over the authority, sanction, and prestige of something we respect and revere to
something the propagandist would have us accept.
The Testimonial Device
works with "counter-testimonials" as well.
The Plain Folks Device
device which attempts to gain support by saying "people" are in support of this or that.
The Card Stacking Device
device which stacks the cards against the truth. Uses under and over emphasis of the
facts.
The Band Wagon Device
"everyone is doing it"
The Slippery Slope
if you accept one tainted or false idea, that will lead to accepting other false beliefs. One
step off the true and narrow and your belief system will begin an "inevitable" slide.
Similar to bandwagoning in that if you leave "our wagon" you must climb aboard "that
wagon."
Frederick Douglas (1857)
Find out just what the people will submit to, and you have found out the exact amount of
injustice and wrong which will be imposed upon them; and these will continue until they
are resisted with either words or blows, or with both. The limits of tyrants are prescribed
by the endurance of those whom they oppress.
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Viet Nam propaganda from the Americans
Dear Friends in the communist forces,
Family and friends love you very much and are waiting for you to go back home. The
government will warmly welcome you. A good life with good care from the government
are ready for you.
In the occasion of the Lunar New Year (Tet), you should go back to family and nation as
soon as possible and you should do the duty of a good son for the fatherland.
We wish you a Happy New Year.
(Accompanied with a picture of a soldier returning home to the welcoming arms of his
children, wife and ageing parents)
Propaganda from the Viet Cong to the American soldiers
GI’S
DEMAND YOUR IMMEDIATE REPATRIATION.
DEMAND THAT THE U.S. GOVERNMENT NEGOTIATE SINCERELY WITH THE
SOUTH VIET NAM NATIONAL FRONT FOR LIBERATION TO BRING
AMERICAN TROOPS HOME AS SOON AS POSSIBLE.
RESOLUTELY REFUSE TO GO TO THE FIELD AND TRY TO FIND EVERY
WAY TO STAY OUT OF THE WAR.
REFUSE TO INTERFERE IN THE VIETNAMESE PEOPLE’S INTERNAL
AFFAIRS.
CROSS OVER TO THE SIDE OF THE LIBERATION ARMY. YOU WILL BE
HELPED TO RETURN HOME OR GO TO A NEUTRAL COUNTRY OF
YOUR CHOICE.
THE SOUTH VIET NAM NATIONAL FRONT FOR
LIBERATION
I find some satisfaction in dying. Perhaps I can help through my example." -- "From 1914
until this day, I have sacrificed all my strength and labor, out of love and loyalty, to my
German homeland. Where it was in need, I sought to help." -- "Greet my parents, brothers
and sisters, relatives, my friends and my Germany!"
Albert Leo Schlageter. Died 26 May 1923
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Hitler wrote about the efficiency of the British propaganda efforts in WWI in his 1925
autobiography Mein Kampf (James Murphy translation, page 134):
All this was inspired by the principle - which is quite true in itself - that in the big
lie there is always a certain force of credibility; because the broad masses of a
nation are always more easily corrupted in the deeper strata of their emotional
nature than consciously or voluntarily; and thus in the primitive simplicity of their
minds they more readily fall victims to the big lie than the small lie, since they
themselves often tell small lies in little matters but would be ashamed to resort to
large-scale falsehoods. It would never come into their heads to fabricate colossal
untruths, and they would not believe that others could have the impudence to
distort the truth so infamously. Even though the facts which prove this to be so
may be brought clearly to their minds, they will still doubt and waver and will
continue to think that there may be some other explanation. For the grossly
impudent lie always leaves traces behind it, even after it has been nailed down, a
fact which is known to all expert liars in this world and to all who conspire
together in the art of lying. These people know only too well how to use falsehood
for the basest purposes. ...
Propaganda Minister Goebbells on British propaganda (in 1941)
One should not as a rule reveal one's secrets, since one does not know if and when one
may need them again. The essential English leadership secret does not depend on
particular intelligence. Rather, it depends on a remarkably stupid thick-headedness. The
English follow the principle that when one lies, one should lie big, and stick to it. They
keep up their lies, even at the risk of looking ridiculous. - Jospeh Goebbels, 12 January
1941, Die Zeit ohne Beispiel