Propaganda has “been wildly successful, but thankfully we usually end up seeing through it.To anyone who has managed to get his/her head sorted out, the truth is glaringly obvious: human society is in apocalypse. Humans have succumbed to an addiction to power. Propaganda has managed to persuade a population that is in the midst of an apocalypse, that it has, in fact, never had it so good. And the man says that we usually see through it. The man is blinded by propaganda. It is the propaganda itself that has persuaded him that he can see through the propaganda.
As a result, the propaganda of hatred and aggression yields not so much the results desired by the authorities of a cohesive society, but rather to increasing its division. If the influence of the first massive wave of deceptive propaganda, it is becoming increasingly evident that there is a division between those who entirely succumbed to the “sweet poison”. Probably every conflict is fought on the battlefield or the minds of the people via propaganda. The “good guys” and the “bad guys” can often both be guilty of misleading their people with distortions, exaggerations, subjectivity, inaccuracy and even fabrications, in order to receive support and a sense of legitimacy.
Propaganda can serve to rally people behind a cause, but often at the cost of exaggerating, misrepresenting, or even lying about the issues in order to gain that support.
While the issue of propaganda often is discussed in the context of militarism, war and war-mongering, it is around us in all aspects of life.
Propaganda in totalitarian regimes is easy to recognize for its blatant and crude methods. In democratic societies, propaganda exists, as most of the above attests to. But, it is harder to see.
As a result, it is important to keep such elements of propaganda in mind when we see coverage of conflicts or even other issues in the media, regardless of the media organization and their apparent reputation.
In many democracies, people hold dear the freedom of speech that they are supposed to have. Yet, “propaganda is to democracy what violence is to totalitarianism,” notes Noam Chomsky. Public accountability of major institutions and of the government must be constantly maintained to avoid propaganda.
One reason that propaganda often works better on the educated than on the uneducated is that educated people read more, so they receive more propaganda. By and large, they’re part of the privileged elite, and share the interests and perceptions of those in power.