Allen Weber’s Take On The World

Defining Propaganda

Dear Reader…

Do you know what propaganda is?

I submit to you Propaganda is simply salesmanship.

Why do I say that?…

Because the object of the propagandist is to get you to come over to his/her side. They want you to believe or at least act as if you believe what they are telling you.

The Object of Salesmanship

Isn’t That The Object of Salesmanship?

The sales person or copywriter, or good advertising person will create a belief in you and a desire for whatever they are selling… whether it is whiter teeth, fresh breath, clean dishes, a hot car that chicks dig… whatever.

The Object of The Propagandist

As a propagandist you are selling people your idea of whatever your idea is… and whatever you want them to believe or do…. Desire to have fresher breath, a hot car that chicks dig, whiter teeth…

Brief History

In 1937 according to Wikipedia a group was formed to point out and educate the public against propaganda. How to recognize it. How to deal with it. The group took the name “Institute for Propaganda Analysis.”

This brain trust of experience(this is not sarcasm, it is praise and awe of the experience of the members) came up with SEVEN propaganda devices. I will list the propaganda devices they came up with they saw propagandists using. When looking at their list I think there may be a couple of additional ones. Or at least a lot of sub-categories within the main categories.

Here is their list:

• Name Calling: Calling your opponent names, or giving an idea a bad label.
• Glittering Generalities: Either associating something with a virtue word or Speaking in generalities, using words that everyone ascribes to, but giving no specifics. We are great! We are mighty! We are Free!
• Transfer: carries the authority, sanction and prestige of something respected over to something else, or carries the authority, sanction, and disapproval to something.
• Testimonial: Generally using someone respected or hated to say something is X. Now days, it also can involve using a self testimonial of the group, or plain folks testimonials (man on the street type stuff).
• Plain Folks: The speaker, or author attempts to convince people “I’m just like you.” or I’m nothing to be scared of or concerned with, I’m from the people. Just plain folks like you.
• Card Stacking: Selection of and use of facts or falsehoods, illustrations, or distractions and logical or illogical statements to give the best or worst scenario. [note:Some people say it involves ONLY your side of the argument, and not mentioning the other side. So you would only tell one side of the story. I believe you give a minimal and weak argument for the other side. Of course your side of the argument will be much stronger.]
• Bandwagon: Everyone (at least all of us) is jumping on. Momentum is going our way, and what I am saying is inevitable, so you might just as well go along so you don’t get left out.

I believe there are additional devices that should be added:

• Assertion: A statement that may or may not be true, but it is said with enthusiasm, and/or energy… and presented with the attitude of “There is no need to doubt this… it’s true!” e.g “The experts said”, ”everyone knows“, “it’s common knowledge”
• Lesser of Two Evils: Even though you don’t agree with this you might as well go along or do it because the alternative is much worse.
• Pinpointing the Enemy: This person, or group is the cause of all our problems.
• Stereotyping:
• Minimize the Oppositions Position: Similar to card stacking, but here you give a very weak defense of the oppositions position and a super strong case for yours.
• Extrapolating the Present or Past into the Future:
• Painting the Future:
• Accusation then Apology: You accuse your opponent of doing something horrendous. After it gets reported in all the papers and media outlets and the story is shown either to be false or a gross exaggeration or mischaracterization of your opponents position and the story is dying down, then apologize for mentioning the accusation, giving it new life.

But For Now We Will Be Using the SEVEN

In order to start and build a solid foundation we will be using the seven, eventually adding more devices to our recognition list.

There is a fun exercise it will help to discern propaganda. We, you and I and all the other readers of this blog will get lots of practice in recognizing the seven basic propaganda devices.

• Name Calling:
• Glittering Generalities:
• Transfer:
• Testimonial:
• Plain Folks:
• Card Stacking:
• Bandwagon:

Our Task / Exercise

Since it’s the USA Presidential Season… Our fun will being by analyzing the candidates speeches. Every one of them we can get our hands on. So if you know of sources to get the text of their speeches for our little experiment/project, please post them.

Next will be the first one. Bear in mind, my analysis will probably suck, and in a couple of months we can all go back and laugh our asses off at it. But it’s a start. And any comments you have or corrections you see, please post them, so we can all learn.

Thanks for reading!

A Critical Thinker,

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