Propaganda--How Politics and the Media Control You

Yesterday I posted some thoughts on voter legislation that is trying to be pushed through Congress.

This morning CNN was pontificating about the evils of GOP voter laws that were passed after the 2020 election.

Which sounds better to you? Protections or restrictions.

If you're like most people, you want protections and you want restrictions imposed on those who threaten you in any way. 

The liberal media describes any voter legislation that they don't like as "voter restrictions". And the same media describes voter legislation that they do like as "voter protections."

It's all about how to market it, to make it more or less appealing to the population. In the simplest sense it's propaganda. 

Most people don't realize it but politicians and the media (mostly liberal media, but it also happens on the right side of the political spectrum) are very careful in their word choices.

Marketing and advertising does the same thing. It's all about manipulating your feelings, which have an effect on how you think and act.

Here's another hot political topic: abortion. 

The left frames abortion as a "woman's right" as "pro-choice." They will vilify anti-abortion efforts as being against women's rights and freedom to do with their body as they choose. They accuse anti-abortion efforts as being against freedom and choice.

On the other side, anti-abortionists want to look like they are on the right side by appealing to "pro-life." Their attack on abortion is primarily along the lines that abortion is against life and against the choice of the unborn child.

What's the truth? An unborn human dies as the result of an abortion procedure. Here's the other truth: that death is caused by the choice of someone else (usually the would-be mother).

Just about any topic that has strong advocates and supporters for both sides will employ propaganda tactics to sway you to their side. They will do all they can to make you feel good, that your pro-something good. They will paint the opposing side in negatives while keeping themselves in a positive light.

Gun control? Absolutely. If you support gun control you see yourself as protecting innocent children and communities and against gun violence. If you're against gun control you're about protecting Constitutional rights and freedoms.

The pro-gun control doesn't market itself as anti-Second Amendment or as wanting to change, limit, or eliminate the Second Amendment. That tactic would lose lots of support because it would be viewed as un-Constitutional. The focus on the widely acceptable, the good feeling words and phrases like: protect our children, increase safety and security, make our communities safer, eliminating gun violence.

But they gloss over and deflect accusations of infringements on Constitutional rights and freedoms by accusing those who are against gun control as not wanting to keep communities safe, not wanting to protect the children, and allowing gun violence to continue and increase.

Here's your challenge: Be mindful of how politicians and the media phrase hot topic issues. Then ask yourself what the boiled down truth is, without all the feel good marketing hype and propaganda. The scary thing is often when you remove the manipulative words the argument falls apart, but most people still believe it.