Propaganda is one of those weird phrases that makes everyone feel unsettled, stirring memories or images from the time they were back in high school or college when learning about Nazi Germany or Soviet Russia. It may perhaps even point you towards countries like North Korea. In any case all those states were or are what I would call, ‘closed societies’, North Korea even in 2020 is an insular, ethno-state where their own people are literally living in their own bubbles. They are not allowed to really leave their own country, and never able to experience what freedom or liberty. It is sad when you think about it. Anytime you hear or see the very few pictures or videos from the news sites, it is always kind of the nicer parts. Like a few weeks ago they had some celebration that was shown on the Sun and people all wearing masks and waving and yet deep down you kind of know it is faked. It is a mix of people genuinely want to celebrate North Korean military because of the propaganda and up bringing and do it willingly, as well as coercion. The propaganda is a form of ‘soft power’ while the coercion of course is, ‘hard power’ backed by military or police, or other types of state coercion. It is extremely easy to see how that can happen though, in a closed society where people don’t have access to the free flow of information as well as travel and misinformation, particularly for North Korea when in the rest of the world have internet and access to non-state controlled news or media. When you look at countries like Nazi Germany where there were reems of propaganda, orchestrated by Joseph Goebbels. “Propaganda is always a means to an end. The propaganda that produces the desired results is good, and all other propaganda is bad.” In this sense there is always an end goal of propaganda, its to get people thinking and acting in a particular way. It worked in such a way that there were even protestant and catholic churches that while they preached against certain aspects of the regime such as the Euthanasia program but never went as far as preaching against the regime itself. In fact, in some cases some churches preached anti-Semitic sermons illustrating the effectiveness of the propaganda. (Ericksen, 2012) Though propaganda only brings out ideas or views that one already has to the surface. In the decades leading up to world war two, there was already a growing obsession with eugenics that had been brought over to Germany from America, from people like Madison Grantz. (Sowell, 2013) Anti-Semitism had already taken root in people, it just simply brought to the surface in many cases. After the war though, Germany was divided into East and West Germany. USA, and other western countries took part not only in seizing thousands of Nazi propaganda, newspapers, and media stations but also a de-Nazification operation for the people of Germany. It started with the US then they left it to the Germans through the Frankfurt school. (Frankfurt School, 2020). It’s a hard way of washing away the hard forms of propaganda used by a particular regime once it has left.
But the question comes to mind as my title suggests, how would propaganda work in the open society? Where there is free access to information without restraint and coercion from the government. I used to think that it was very unlikely for there to be propaganda in the open society such as Britain or USA. It’s interesting, having lived through 2020 the entire covid-19 pandemic, and seeing how the governments responded to it, but also how citizens reacted to the pandemic. Because here in the UK there were two aspects to the response—the ‘soft’ kind of propaganda messages such as social distancing guidelines, but also the ‘hard’ power such as lockdowns, threat of fines. It went even further in the UK with some police encouraging others to report neighbours or anyone for breaking rules. (Barrett, 2020) Yet it certainly worked in areas like Cheshire with police being flooded with calls. (Shaw, 2020) It’s a soft form of coercion but it is the same thing that has been seen in far more authoritarian governments whether that be in the current time or in history. Whether it was being against lockdowns or in favour, it was interesting to see how people’s views overtime changed towards it as an observer. I was still thinking about this idea of propaganda and it grew when it came around May around the time of the George Floyd protests after he died in police custody, the way in which different people were seeing the same events but came to very different conclusions, over partisanship. The protests had people in both the USA or UK, tearing down statues and the questions of race, history and all sorts were brought to the forefront, something that had been bubbling for a number of years or perhaps even decades, whether that would be people who were victims of racism or perceived racism. There was of course the rage on the world’s biggest cesspit, where you will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy known as Twitter. They were relentless trying to get brands to remove images, there were actors being cancelled and actors cancelling themselves, ludicrously. But there was also what I would call propaganda spreading across social media, in different forms such as the unstoppable amount of images and phrases like Black Lives Matter as well as books to educate each other, and the worst of it the ‘blackout Tuesday’, where the virtue signalling took to new heights. Where churches, individuals, corporations posted messages like “We support you” with black backgrounds, or on Instagram a single black photo. However, without the coercion aspect this rarely works, particularly when most people are already against racism, especially in your own circles. Would you want to keep racists on your Instagram or Facebook lists? Therefore, as Eric Hoffer said in his book, “Propaganda thus serves more to justify ourselves than to convince others; and the more reason we have to feel guilty, the more fervent our propaganda.” (Hoffer, 1951) It was really odd as an observer people you consider friends or like family having to jump on the bandwagon of culture to prove they aren’t racist. Like I’m pretty sure I knew that already but seeing it over and over was quite frustrating. It was then that made me really start researching propaganda, so I started reading books like Eric Hoffer’s True Believer the Nature of Mass Movements. However, as time progressed during lockdown, I spent a lot of time on Youtube following a number of different channels that went into these topics such as the Academic Agent, Akkad Daily, the Fourth Age, Shadiversity and finally Young Rippa, who all touched on topics of philosophy, politics and history that made me think about it and wanting to do my own research. The realisation though is that this propaganda added with our own echo chambers but also our own limitations such as memory lead to not only how we perceive events that happen to others, but in some cases even events that have happened to ourselves. An example is that on my history degree, I did Holocaust studies as well as World 1 and World War 2 topics. There was a woman who had gone through the traumatic event of one of the Nazi camps and survived, she gave interviews after she survived and then many, many years she came to Manchester and did a talk. I remember one of my lectures mentioning afterward some of the minor details she gave of her own experience were wrong. It’s not her fault, but it was down to memory being what it is limited, but also the amount of tv, media, books that came out afterward and she was giving details of things that happened at other camps but not the one she was at. Another example was that after Dad’s Army came out there was a tune that was made for the show, yet afterwards soldiers being interviewed said they used to sing the tune into war which was not true. Again, illustrating how in subtle ways this can put things in our mind and alter how we perceive our own experiences. This is relevant because this same kind of thing applies to the issues of race that were brought up during this year because of the conversations that were being said. Some of the prominent voices were saying how they were feeling hurt from generations of slavery and discrimination even going as far as blaming current day’s weak family structure down to the legacy of slavery. However, is this actually true? Well unfortunately no, especially historical as there’s about a hundred years between the end of slavery in the USA from 1865 to the civil rights in the 1960s. Marriage was forbidden during slavery yet most children lived in two parent family settings and even studies report that blacks even just one generation out of slavery, that a narrow percentage more of black people had married than white adults and this actually continued in every census from 1890 to 1940 and top of, the amount of house ownership of blacks steadily increasing up to 38% in 1960. (Williams, 2011) Already there is a kind of disconnect between what the history and data shows compared to people who perceive their own reality. In fact, there are many other positives such as the fact that the first woman to charter a bank in the USA, was a black woman called Maggie L Walker and served as a president. (Maggie L. Walker, 2020) (Radical Liberation, 2020) In later life Maggie became disabled but she served as a role model for others with disabilities. It is something that is just consigned to the history books, as I don’t recall her name appearing at all as one of the famous figures in black history which is a shame and just illustrates that certain parts of history is forgotten, yet other parts are remembered. Yet undoubtedly all the black people around her in the community and wider would have known her. But as time passes when you reach the civil rights period, the black family was starting to break down.
In 1965 the out of wedlock births for black parents was 25%, by the time you reach 1991 it is as high as 68%. (African American family structure, 2020) That is an increase of over double in less than thirty years and that is without the hard-restrictive laws of previous periods. On top of that, the number of children being raised by single mothers in 1960 was 22 percent, 35 years later it has risen to 52 percent by single mothers and 11 percent without any parent involved. (Sowell, 2016) Yet you might say, even if there are not any restrictions, people could still discriminate towards black Americans and yes that is true. But is the argument that this discrimination over years has prevented them from growing on a socio-economic scale to current times? Firstly, you must step away and think about other minority races in the USA for instance Chinese Americans and Japanese Americans. They have not always been treated well, with Woodrow Wilson who signed anti-Chinese laws with them named in law. (Leonard, 2016) and then during world war 2, Japanese were put into internment camps with their houses seized and it was all held up by the supreme court of justice. (Internment of Japanese Americans, 2020). Yet both these races have managed to overcome these difficulties even though it was more recent than slavery. However, it seemed as though many people who were being interviewed or protesting in the streets were saying this pain has been going on for generations, each of them parroting similar if not the same phrases that black people have been treated so badly yet other races have been equally treated badly but generally better off in terms of wealth and education. It appears many are believing that the legacy of slavery, according to research done by the Pew Research Centre in 2019 found that more than half of black Americans believe that slavery still impacts them today. (Pew Research 2019) Despite that though there is still a lot of problems within the black community in modern day America, whether that is the abortion rates that are far higher than any other racial group, as well as a huge amount of single mothers on welfare yet it’s not really helping to elevate them out of poverty. You might say ‘Well, then it’s the government’s job to do so!” The thing is the government is already doing that. In the 1700’s they were spending 3 million a year or 1 dollar per citizen, by 1910 it was 600 million or 6.75 a person, and by the 90’s its hit 4 billion, or just over 6,000 per person and that is without working out inflation. (Williams, 1995) In fact the government have spent trillions on trying to elevate people out of poverty, as well as affirmative action through schools to try and improve education. The research down the years shows there is no correlation between more spending and black people either making economic gains or academic achievement. (Sowell, 2016) While currently a large amount of people seem to think the government need to spend more to help people out of their economic or academic problems but the facts show that these ideas do not work as well as one would hope.
The question is where has such views come from? Even though clearly it does not seem to line up with facts. It appears that these views are reinforced by propaganda, which comes in different forms such as schools or news. For instance, just a quick google search gives results from different news sites such as Washington times, and even others from universities like Michigan State University website. (MSUT Today 2020) There has been even articles that have suggested that tipping is linked to slavery and still hurts workers today. (Elizabeth Wann, 2020). However, in google there’s articles going back the past few years, some dating 2019, 2018, 2015 and other random years from a range of different sources not just university or media sites but science journals, health journals, blogs and so on. Then of course you have movements like BLM really pushing doubling down on such views, and using catchphrases and slogans like Black Lives Matter, White privilege, unconscious bias, reparations and people saying they live with the intergenerational trauma of slavery or Jim crow laws. People are of course entitled to their own opinions but certainly not to their own facts. Is it the ideas of the young people themselves? Or rather something they have simply been sold and misled into believing these ideas? One of the books I have read this year, called Propaganda by Edward Bernays and a quote I like from his book is this, “We are governed, our minds moulded, our tastes formed, our ideas suggested, largely by men we have never heard of.” (Bernays 1928) Later in the book he gives the example of a man in a tailor shop, choosing a new suit, whether that’s for a social gathering like wedding reception, a date with a potential girlfriend or perhaps a job interview. All these may influence the type of suit he goes for to his own tastes, yet it could be that he is simply obeying the orders of some gentlemen tailor he is never even heard off down in London. Another example of this same kind of idea is all the fads that happen in school, I lived through the Pokémon phase where everyone played the games or bought the cards—I can’t remember who started it the trend but it certainly happened. It only took one or two kids and yet all the kids went through it, ideas given from the television and then running off and asking parents to buy said products. Even more recently, in my own life I became obsessed with wearing and collecting dungarees (even though I never wore them as a kid) was it truly my idea? No, I recall seeing someone in them and decided to try them. Then a friend got me into my favourite brand Lucy and Yak. Neither were truly my idea, just influenced. I do not mind either, but It just illustrates how it goes. Propaganda does not have to be insidious like Nazi Germany but can be something like marketing or correcting information. It originates from 1622 during the rise of Protestantism, propagation of the Faith where the catholic church had to send out propaganda to try and correct some of the information that was going out. It can be invasive like it has been during the Covid-19 pandemic with so much that is everywhere. A few adverts here and there for products are irritating but quite forgettable. However, when you add propaganda and social media together it makes it harder to escape. A book called, The Shallows by Nicholas Carr that focuses on technology and its impact illustrates the idea on how the internet is changing the way we act and think, not the content itself but social media itself. It means people are scrolling more, and skimming information more. What that means as propaganda is that as you scroll, even if you don’t agree with an article headline, chances are in your echo chambers you will see either the same headline or similar headlines or similar adverts over and over again. There have been times when certain things that have popped into my head and wonder where they came or talking to someone and not quite remember where I saw it from then only realise that it was something I had seen on social media. It was certainly the case for the Covid-19 information, circulating in different announcements that had been made regarding government rules. Propaganda is generally top down rather than ground up phenomenon as we have seen in many of the examples, rather than ground up from the people, so I would likely say the same for these phrases like unconscious bias, white privilege, the legacy of slavery and even phrases like BAME that are certainly not phrases that people within these communities use to call themselves. Even though it might appear as though its something from “normal people” but these ideas have been going on for the best part of two decades. It doesn’t just cover the big issues like slavery but other issues too, there has always been figures or countries that at one time elites from the west supported whether that is China, Cuba, Russia, Venezuela and many others including our own. (Niemietz, 2019) Often it goes from supporting people like or Stalin, or Hitler, or even in their own countries, Nixon or Trump, to the chorus of Orange man bad, Nixon is bad, Stalin is bad and so on. I am not saying that some of these people are not bad, but they link people that are nowhere near to these despots as bad for example Nixon or Trump. If I were to say the 1960 election between JFK and Nixon was bad, you would presumably assume that it was down to Nixon being bad but that is not actually the history. There were many false counts and shenanigans during that election, but it was not on Nixon’s side. Overtime that is forgotten. A book to check out is Courthouse over White House: Chicago and the presidential election of 1960, Volume 1960 by Edmund Frank Kallina. It illustrates how as time passes, from one generation to the next, the events as they happen often forgotten and consigned to the history books, and then the propaganda happens that alters the history as it happened.
The question though is if we are being influenced, how do we stop it? Being a Christian, I am a follower of Christ and even with the holy spirit it is incredibly difficult. The best way is to pray and firstly seek God. We need to challenge people’s views and encourage them to research it, not just by a few BBC, CNN or Daily Mail articles. Find books or people who tell you what it is really like, now how it should be. Do not let yourself be too influenced by these corporations to much. Of course do not silence people with other points of view—the sooner you do that, the sooner your virtual world becomes akin to North Korea a weaponized echo chamber, where all you see is reaffirming propaganda. When people use terms like unconscious bias, do not just parrot the same phrases but research what it actually means and the more research and understanding you do, you can guard yourself against it. I have listed down below sources I have used but also books and videos for further study that may be worth your time. Hopefully, this helps whoever is reading this in understanding how propaganda works in the open society.
Further studying or research: A Conflict of Visions animated video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GkCSbANBeuI&fbclid=IwAR3b_NoRFizPIC_UvOVir4-GM4hhFgkGuvcmav0UXRKbo_s2iRen9rny4UA All Art is Propaganda by George Orwell
Fear and Social control: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w_ybzC2wP7Q
Propaganda and Group Psychology https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lOUcXK_7d_c
Propaganda Blitz: How the Corporate Media Distort Reality by David Edwards and David Cromwell
The Evolution of Everything by Matt Ridley
The Image: A guide to Pseudo Events in America by Daniel J Boorstin The Rational Optimist by Matt Ridley
The Righteous Mind: Why Good People are Divided by Politics and Religion by Jonathan Haidt Walter Williams interview and talk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kgGJ9eC98M0 Wealth Poverty and Politics video, interview. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KRWO7UMGGlI
Sources:
Barrett, D.2020. Police Tell Public To Report Neighbours Who Break Lockdown Rules. [online] Mail Online. Available at: <https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8890665/Police-chief-tells-public-report-neighbours-breaking-coronavirus-lockdown-rules.html> [Accessed 7 November 2020]. Bernays, E.1928 Propaganda IG PUBLISHING; New Ed edition (1 Sept. 2004)
En.wikipedia.org. 2020. African American Family Structure. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/African-American_family_structure> [Accessed 7 November 2020].
En.wikipedia.org. 2020. Frankfurt School. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frankfurt_School> [Accessed 7 November 2020].
En.wikipedia.org. 2020. Internment Of Japanese Americans. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internment_of_Japanese_Americans> [Accessed 7 November 2020].
En.wikipedia.org. 2020. Maggie L. Walker. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maggie_L._Walker> [Accessed 7 November 2020].
Ericksen, R. 2012. Complicity In The Holocaust. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Hoffer, E. 1951. The True Believer: Thoughts On The Nature Of Mass Movements. Harper and Row Publishers.
Leonard, T.2016. Illiberal Reformers. Princeton University Press; Reprint edition.
MSUToday | Michigan State University. 2020. Faculty Voice: How Slavery In The US Impacts Race Relations Today. [online] Available at: <https://msutoday.msu.edu/news/2020/faculty-voice-how-slavery-impacts-race-relations-today> [Accessed 7 November 2020]. Niemietz, K Socialism,2019. The Failed Idea That Never Dies. Institute of Economic Affairs.
Pew Research Center. 2020. Most Americans Say The Legacy Of Slavery Still Affects Black People In The U.S. Today. [online] Available at: <https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2019/06/17/most-americans-say-the-legacy-of-slavery-still-affects-black-people-in-the-u-s-today/> [Accessed 7 November 2020].
Radical Liberation, 2020. Deep Lore Econ Chat: Forgotten Freedom. [image] Available at: <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PgXmQjtjpwk> [Accessed 7 November 2020].
Shaw, N. 2020. People Calling Police To Report Neighbours For Breaking Covid Rules. [online] WalesOnline. Available at: <https://www.cheshire-live.co.uk/news/uk-world-news/people-calling-police-report-neighbours-17998847> [Accessed 7 November 2020].
Sowell, T.2013. Intellectuals And Race. 1st ed. Basic Books.
Sowell, T. 2016 Wealth, Poverty and Politics: An International Perspective 2nd edition. Basic Books.
Williams, W. 1995. Do the Right Thing. 1st ed. Hoover Institution Press.
Williams, W. 2011. Race & Economics: How Much Can Be Blamed On Discrimination?. 1st ed. Hoover Institution Press.