"Education"
"Fifty-one percent of the American people lacked information (in this election), and we want to educate and enlighten them. They weren't told the truth."
Michael Moore, 2004, on why America needs his planned sequal to "Fahrenheit 9/11."
"We do not wish to win this small group to our world view by force or pressure. Rather, where ever and whenever it is possible, and without force or pressure, we want to use the means of education and public pressure on the foes of renewal."
Hugo Ringler, 1934, on "The Work of Propagandists in the National Socialist State" (translated from the original German).
The German Propaganda Archive is a fascinating site, an invaluable resource for anyone interested in the workings of the tremendously successful Nazi information machine. Besides examples of its work, the site reproduces writings and speeches by German propagandists about their process.
In these, the "openness" of the Nazi government gets a lot of emphasis. Yes, if course, you can be open in your deliberations if you trust that your news media are ideologically aligned with your agenda. And this allows the totalitarian government to boast of its transparency, while damning the democracies for shutting out, in crucial situations, their own contrarian media.
For an example, consider this 1939 essay, "The Political Work of the Radio Announcer."
Finally, this political cartoon, from September 1944:
Roosevelt, with a cane, and Eleanor look over a field of crosses. The caption reads, "Not to worry, Eleanor, many voters I promised I would never lead into the war can no longer vote against me ...." Which could nicely be reduced to, "Roosevelt lied, they died."
Michael Moore, 2004, on why America needs his planned sequal to "Fahrenheit 9/11."
"We do not wish to win this small group to our world view by force or pressure. Rather, where ever and whenever it is possible, and without force or pressure, we want to use the means of education and public pressure on the foes of renewal."
Hugo Ringler, 1934, on "The Work of Propagandists in the National Socialist State" (translated from the original German).
The German Propaganda Archive is a fascinating site, an invaluable resource for anyone interested in the workings of the tremendously successful Nazi information machine. Besides examples of its work, the site reproduces writings and speeches by German propagandists about their process.
In these, the "openness" of the Nazi government gets a lot of emphasis. Yes, if course, you can be open in your deliberations if you trust that your news media are ideologically aligned with your agenda. And this allows the totalitarian government to boast of its transparency, while damning the democracies for shutting out, in crucial situations, their own contrarian media.
For an example, consider this 1939 essay, "The Political Work of the Radio Announcer."
But decisive political events [in Nazi Germany] do not take place “behind the scenes,” rather they are intended to gain the participation of the whole population. Dr. Goebbels opens the doors, the conference rooms, the meeting halls, the four walls of diplomatic negotiations, and lets the people and the world participate. The broadest public participates in important events through pictures, news reports, the accounts of capable announcers, or though direct broadcasts of political events.
The principle of National Socialist foreign policy is to mobilize the whole popular will for certain international goals. There is therefore no secret diplomacy in Wilson’s sense, no backroom negotiations like those Roosevelt, the English, and the cabinets of nearly all the European capitals have attempted to use against us this year.
Finally, this political cartoon, from September 1944:
Roosevelt, with a cane, and Eleanor look over a field of crosses. The caption reads, "Not to worry, Eleanor, many voters I promised I would never lead into the war can no longer vote against me ...." Which could nicely be reduced to, "Roosevelt lied, they died."
Labels: propaganda
