PROPAGANDA

Kiran Gowda

Propaganda is the spread of specially selected information to support a cause. It is not

important weather the information is right or that it is for a just cause. Over the history
propaganda has been used by extensively. It is so powerful that, it made people even
give away their lives for someone elses cause.
Numerous governments and people have used propaganda to wage wars (Second
World War), come up with insane laws (the current beef ban in India) Hitler one of the
most influential person to have ever walked on earth is supposed to have told:
If you are going to tell a lie, dont tell a little one because it will be recognized as a lie.
Tell the biggest and most unthinkable lie. Keep on telling it and people will think it must
be truth and believe it. He went further and concluded: The greater the lie the more
effective it is as a weapon.
Obviously propaganda should be bad, right? But still a lot of political personalities and
propagandists swear that men are incapable of making intelligent decisions for their
own and rely on emotional sentiments. The most well known political scientist Harrold
D.Lasswell mentioned in his book that:
"The modern propagandist, like the modern psychologist, recognizes that men are
often poor judges of their own interests, flitting from one alternative to the
next without solid reason or clinging timorously to the fragments of some rock
of ages."
Edward Bernay father of propaganda and public relations who made Thomas alva
Edison to be the inventor of light bulb went even further, saying that propaganda is
necessary for democracy to thrive.
The surprising fact is that only propaganda leading to bad karma is termed as
propaganda. We should also know that propaganda is very effective when it is in the
best interest of the receiver, as was the case of post WWI Germany (After the WWI the
restrictions on Germany were hindering Germanys growth.).
Recently I came across an amendment in the defense authorization in the USA that
would legalize the use of propaganda for defense purposes. We could categorize
internal communication teams as propagandists using messaging and marketing
collateral to build a cohesive internal structure, which is nothing but propaganda. We
are influenced by propagandas everyday by corporate government entities. The

question we should be asking ourselves is, are we taking any decision on our own and
are even capable of taking decisions.
The 20th century in some ways was the best time to deploy propaganda. Unlike any
previous age, the 20th Century was the age of mass communications. Industrial mass
printing of newspapers, radio, television, telephones and the Internet radically changed
the way humans communicate. It also led to some of the worlds worst nightmares
(nuclear bombings, war on Iraq, holocaust etc). As the technology is improving, it is
becoming easier and easier to use propaganda.
The future of propaganda looks even grim as all information is at the fingertips of
corporate and government entities. We all say that Google to be the most powerful
corporation today. Is it because of its financial power or because of its employees... It is
because it has the capability to propagate information (propaganda) i.e. it has the
capability to influence people, especially in todays world where we believe that
information on the internet to be the least biased.
What can we do minimize being influenced by propaganda? We could always question
the message and the messenger as well as any who may have sent the messenger.
Practice reading with emotional detachment and a critical eye to not only what is said,
but how it is said and by whom. We could use deep web where people are less biased
by corporate or government propaganda. But, the truth is if you dont like propagandas
than you should live like Robinson Crusoe.
Finally, propaganda is a tool. It is inherently neutral. The good or evil is found in the
intent of the speaker and their desired actions and/or reactions on your part.