Ernest Nagel
is old
Saw this on my FB and just thought it was worth sharing here. Five basic rules of propaganda, courtesy of Norman Davies in his book "Europe: A History":
The rule of simplification: reducing all data to a simple confrontation between "Good and Bad", "Friend and Foe".
The rule of disfiguration: discrediting the opposition by crude smears and parodies.
The rule of transfusion: manipulating the consensus values of the target audience for one's own ends.
The rule of unanimity: presenting one's viewpoint as if it were the unanimous opinion of all right-thinking people: draining the doubting individual into agreement by the appeal of star-performers, by social pressure, and by "psychological contagion".
The rule of orchestration: endlessly repeating the same messages in different variations and combinations.
I'm not pointing fingers in any direction. I just think it's interesting how some of these strategies seem to be taking hold in all quarters. I kinda wish these rules could be made into infractions with serious penalties for so-called "news" media. Always that pesky First Amendment though.
The rule of simplification: reducing all data to a simple confrontation between "Good and Bad", "Friend and Foe".
The rule of disfiguration: discrediting the opposition by crude smears and parodies.
The rule of transfusion: manipulating the consensus values of the target audience for one's own ends.
The rule of unanimity: presenting one's viewpoint as if it were the unanimous opinion of all right-thinking people: draining the doubting individual into agreement by the appeal of star-performers, by social pressure, and by "psychological contagion".
The rule of orchestration: endlessly repeating the same messages in different variations and combinations.
I'm not pointing fingers in any direction. I just think it's interesting how some of these strategies seem to be taking hold in all quarters. I kinda wish these rules could be made into infractions with serious penalties for so-called "news" media. Always that pesky First Amendment though.
