WEBVTT - How Propaganda Works 0:00:00.280 --> 0:00:02.920 Brought to you by the reinvented two thousand twelve Camray. 0:00:03.160 --> 0:00:07.600 It's ready. Are you welcome to Stuff you Should Know 0:00:08.200 --> 0:00:11.960 from House Stuff Works dot Com. Hey, and welcome to 0:00:12.000 --> 0:00:15.560 the podcast. I'm Josh Clark. Chuck Bryant's with me as usual. 0:00:15.760 --> 0:00:17.360 As a matter of fact, I don't know what I 0:00:17.400 --> 0:00:20.079 do If Chuck Bryant wasn't with me, I'd probably curl 0:00:20.160 --> 0:00:22.200 up in the fetal position in the corner and cry 0:00:22.320 --> 0:00:24.720 myself to sleep. I think you'd be just fine. I 0:00:24.760 --> 0:00:27.680 don't know, Chuck. I don't ever want to find out. Chuck. Well, thanks, 0:00:28.760 --> 0:00:31.400 almost didn't make it today. Why what's going on with you? 0:00:31.680 --> 0:00:33.880 I was out last night. I went out and saw 0:00:33.920 --> 0:00:37.320 Matt's band. As you know, Matt Frederick are handsome young 0:00:37.600 --> 0:00:41.760 stand in producer. Yeah, Matt Frederick of Stuff of Genius 0:00:41.760 --> 0:00:44.800 fame and awesome new video podcasts. We should mention, Chuck. 0:00:45.360 --> 0:00:47.240 It's really good. You guys should check that out, Stuff 0:00:47.240 --> 0:00:50.720 of Genius. It's it's a video podcast video and it's 0:00:50.840 --> 0:00:53.320 cool and it has a little like Monty Python esque animation. 0:00:53.360 --> 0:00:54.800 I like it. Yeah, And we don't want to hear 0:00:54.800 --> 0:00:56.320 any of this. I don't have time to watch that 0:00:56.360 --> 0:00:58.880 crap because it's like a minute forty two tops. Yeah, 0:00:58.880 --> 0:01:01.440 it's quick. Yeah. But went and saw his band last night, 0:01:01.920 --> 0:01:04.840 Lions and Scissors. Yeah, good stuff, And I wanted to 0:01:04.880 --> 0:01:06.759 say that they have a MySpace page and it's good 0:01:06.840 --> 0:01:12.279 music if you're into its very shoegaze, yeah, mag wise 0:01:12.360 --> 0:01:15.119 good is sort of a radio heady component at times. 0:01:15.520 --> 0:01:17.360 Explosions in the sky you ever heard of them? I 0:01:17.440 --> 0:01:22.160 have a big wall of sound, loud, my ears are ringing, 0:01:22.160 --> 0:01:25.080 and I'm slightly tired and imbibed a bit too much. 0:01:25.120 --> 0:01:28.679 But that was my night. That's Chuck's Thursday, everybody, So 0:01:28.760 --> 0:01:31.360 keep rocking, Matt. We love it. Yeah, way to go, Matt. 0:01:31.800 --> 0:01:34.680 So can we get back to our podcast now? Maybe? Yeah, 0:01:34.680 --> 0:01:37.040 But I just wanted to give give you a hard time. 0:01:37.080 --> 0:01:40.000 I think you're a good guy for doing that. Talented drummer, 0:01:40.600 --> 0:01:44.200 great drummer. Okay, So, Chuck, you grew up in the 0:01:44.200 --> 0:01:49.640 Cold War, right, it's pretty funny, jerk you did. You're 0:01:49.640 --> 0:01:51.640 a Cold War baby like me. I'm a Cold War kid. 0:01:51.760 --> 0:01:54.480 Isn't it weird to think we actually work with people who, 0:01:54.600 --> 0:01:58.400 like weren't cognizant that, you know, the Soviets had nukes 0:01:58.680 --> 0:02:01.320 pointed at us at all times and vice versa. Yeah, 0:02:01.360 --> 0:02:03.600 that is weird to me. Yeah, but um yeah, I 0:02:03.600 --> 0:02:07.160 remember being particularly unnerved from time to time that like, dude, 0:02:07.200 --> 0:02:10.680 eventually they're going to come over and or our missile 0:02:10.760 --> 0:02:13.080 is going to be sent over, and that's that, you know. 0:02:13.160 --> 0:02:15.000 I think I can't help but think that we were 0:02:15.080 --> 0:02:19.520 definitely shaped, our personalities were shaped by that underlying, constant 0:02:19.600 --> 0:02:21.640 level of paranoia that we grew up with. You well 0:02:21.680 --> 0:02:23.839 in the movies, uh, a lot, a lot of great 0:02:23.840 --> 0:02:26.320 Cold war movies of that era, but the Roosky is 0:02:26.320 --> 0:02:28.640 out to get us? Yeah, well, do you remember the 0:02:28.680 --> 0:02:31.960 movie Rooskis? Was there one called? It was actually a 0:02:32.000 --> 0:02:36.280 counter propaganda movie where a bunch of kids that were 0:02:36.280 --> 0:02:38.720 probably my age you would have been, like, you know, 0:02:38.919 --> 0:02:43.280 twenty by then. Um, where I think they found a 0:02:43.360 --> 0:02:45.560 Russian sailor who washed ashore and they had to hide 0:02:45.600 --> 0:02:48.000 them because of course, you know, the government would shoot 0:02:48.040 --> 0:02:50.280 him in the head if they found him. And they 0:02:50.360 --> 0:02:53.560 came to learn that the Soviets have hearts too, they 0:02:53.600 --> 0:02:55.720 know how to love. Was it a real movie? Like, yeah, 0:02:56.200 --> 0:02:59.359 it wasn't very good, but it was somebody actually put 0:02:59.400 --> 0:03:01.680 out the effort to say, you know, hey, we're all 0:03:01.720 --> 0:03:04.359 just people here, you know. Um, And what they were 0:03:04.360 --> 0:03:09.320 doing actually was counter propaganda, right, Like all the that 0:03:09.400 --> 0:03:12.160 was right off the cuff, two pounds um, all of 0:03:12.200 --> 0:03:15.400 the all the stuff we were told, I would say, 0:03:15.440 --> 0:03:18.919 at least the vast majority of it was lopsided at best. 0:03:19.040 --> 0:03:20.440 Like do you remember what did you think of the 0:03:20.480 --> 0:03:22.160 Russians when you were growing up? That they were like 0:03:22.200 --> 0:03:24.480 they cut your throat just as soon as look at you, 0:03:24.880 --> 0:03:27.480 And they were always standing in these horrible breadlines, and 0:03:27.680 --> 0:03:30.079 like every single one of them wanted to escape, but 0:03:30.120 --> 0:03:33.160 the Russian government wouldn't let her. They wanted up toilet papers. 0:03:33.560 --> 0:03:35.840 They heard stories about they don't have blue jeans and 0:03:35.840 --> 0:03:38.200 they don't have toilets. Yeah, like you could get you know, 0:03:38.320 --> 0:03:40.200 five wives with the single pair of jeans if you 0:03:40.200 --> 0:03:42.880 wouldn't ever the kind of thing. Yeah, well, I remember 0:03:42.920 --> 0:03:46.320 when the Iron curtain fell and like actual news started 0:03:46.320 --> 0:03:49.560 coming out of the the former USSR states that I 0:03:49.560 --> 0:03:52.360 remember thinking, oh, yeah, what a surprise. All of that 0:03:52.480 --> 0:03:55.960 was lies And they're actually kind of nice folks by 0:03:56.000 --> 0:03:58.240 and large. I'm not saying that they weren't trying to 0:03:58.320 --> 0:04:00.800 do bad things. When we were trying to do bad things. Well, no, 0:04:00.960 --> 0:04:03.000 I think that that was the Russian people were good 0:04:03.040 --> 0:04:05.200 people that came that. That's what I figured out when 0:04:05.200 --> 0:04:08.160 the propaganda ended, the Cold War propaganda ended so abruptly, 0:04:08.200 --> 0:04:11.640 is that we're all people like the average Russian is 0:04:11.720 --> 0:04:15.800 like the average American at heart, with the same dreams, goals, aspirations, 0:04:15.840 --> 0:04:17.880 same things that Kim or her. You know, it's the 0:04:17.920 --> 0:04:20.239 same thing. And we didn't want our stockpiles of weapons 0:04:20.279 --> 0:04:22.640 pointed in their direction either. You know, you're average American 0:04:22.680 --> 0:04:26.240 probably didn't know, certainly not I didn't either. Let's just 0:04:26.279 --> 0:04:28.720 get along, all right, So, Chuck, what we're talking about 0:04:28.880 --> 0:04:32.279 clearly is propaganda, right, which in just that word, A 0:04:32.400 --> 0:04:36.960 very smart person once said, um that propaganda is not 0:04:37.040 --> 0:04:39.400 a dirty word, and it didn't end with the Cold War, 0:04:39.760 --> 0:04:44.040 and that's actually true. But propaganda still has horrible connotations 0:04:44.080 --> 0:04:46.760 just the word itself, right, I mean, it elicits images 0:04:46.800 --> 0:04:51.200 of like brainwashed mass and that's it's definitely the case 0:04:51.279 --> 0:04:53.839 in most cases when it comes to propaganda. But there's 0:04:53.960 --> 0:05:00.279 a classical, more classical definition of propaganda, and essentially, Um, 0:05:00.320 --> 0:05:05.200 it's that it's simply a tool for persuasive arguments, Um, 0:05:05.279 --> 0:05:09.440 that use facts and beliefs, but omit facts and beliefs 0:05:09.480 --> 0:05:12.240 that that would persuade people to the other side of 0:05:12.240 --> 0:05:15.880 the argument, right. It's it's accentuating the positive in a way, 0:05:15.880 --> 0:05:18.640 and you never talked about the negative side of the things. Right, 0:05:18.839 --> 0:05:21.680 So it's sort of like Facebook, it is. It's very 0:05:21.760 --> 0:05:25.400 much like Facebook. Um. I figured out that, um through 0:05:25.440 --> 0:05:29.640 reading this article how propaganda works. That technically the truth campaign, 0:05:29.800 --> 0:05:33.000 you know, to to get people to quit smoking comcials, 0:05:33.200 --> 0:05:37.040 that's propaganda because they omit the fact that cigarettes make 0:05:37.040 --> 0:05:42.320 you alive with pleasure and flavor country. Right, So it's 0:05:42.360 --> 0:05:44.400 that's a little bit of both. I'm not sure we 0:05:44.400 --> 0:05:47.080 should say the brands because I'm pretty sure Big Tobacco 0:05:47.120 --> 0:05:49.000 would sue our parents. And you're right, you've come a 0:05:49.000 --> 0:05:54.039 long way, nice chuck, Um. So yes, But the the 0:05:54.080 --> 0:05:59.560 main hallmark of propaganda is that it includes omissions of facts, right. Um. 0:05:59.600 --> 0:06:02.680 And actually, the where where did the whole word come from? 0:06:02.680 --> 0:06:05.800 You got any you got any info on that? Dude? Uh? Yeah, 0:06:06.360 --> 0:06:10.000 started with religion way back, and it started, you know, 0:06:10.080 --> 0:06:12.839 hundreds of years before it was officially coined. But in 0:06:12.960 --> 0:06:18.440 sixteen twenty two, Pope Gregory was I need to work 0:06:18.440 --> 0:06:21.760 in my room in new Pope Gregory fifteen established the 0:06:21.800 --> 0:06:25.880 Congregation of Propaganda in sixty two, and that was basically 0:06:25.880 --> 0:06:28.359 trying to win back Catholics who had taken up the 0:06:28.400 --> 0:06:31.120 Protestant faith. Yeah, Martin Luther made a real damp in 0:06:31.440 --> 0:06:34.680 the number of seats in the pews every Sunday. So 0:06:35.040 --> 0:06:39.440 Pope Gregory formed the what was it, the Congregation of Propaganda. Um, 0:06:39.800 --> 0:06:43.200 and they, oh you did say that, Holy cow man, 0:06:43.240 --> 0:06:46.600 I gotta pay more attention. Basically, this Congregation of Propaganda, 0:06:46.920 --> 0:06:49.760 you know, one Catholics back by pointing out that anyone 0:06:49.800 --> 0:06:52.640 who doesn't take communion every week as a loser. And 0:06:52.680 --> 0:06:56.320 it worked, it did, sure, I'm sure numbers increased. So 0:06:56.360 --> 0:06:59.800 since then, you know, from that point until I don't know, 0:07:00.080 --> 0:07:03.479 the nineteen forties, there was absolutely no propaganda whatsoever. That's 0:07:03.480 --> 0:07:06.440 probably not true. No, you don't think that's okay. I 0:07:06.480 --> 0:07:08.680 need to read a little more clearly World War One? 0:07:08.720 --> 0:07:10.560 Are we talking? Are we're gonna go with the history now? 0:07:10.640 --> 0:07:12.040 I don't think we should get to that party. I 0:07:12.040 --> 0:07:16.200 think we should talk more about propaganda's implications. Right in 0:07:16.280 --> 0:07:18.760 the article, you you read that there was an interview 0:07:18.800 --> 0:07:22.720 with a guy named em Laine Bruner. Yeah, he's a 0:07:22.760 --> 0:07:26.280 professor of what rhetoric at Georgia State. Yeah, I didn't 0:07:26.280 --> 0:07:28.160 know that was such a thing. I didn't either, but 0:07:28.240 --> 0:07:32.960 it's interesting for him. Um. But Brunner said that the 0:07:32.960 --> 0:07:36.960 the distinction for him between good and bad propaganda was 0:07:37.040 --> 0:07:41.280 whether or not, um, the the people perpetrating the propaganda 0:07:41.600 --> 0:07:44.840 have the best interests of their audience at heart. Right, Yeah, 0:07:44.880 --> 0:07:47.880 but that's subjective. I agree wholeheartedly. I take issue with 0:07:47.920 --> 0:07:50.720 that because I think that it's up to the individual 0:07:51.360 --> 0:07:54.320 to decide what his or her best interests, all right, 0:07:54.720 --> 0:07:57.559 and to make the decision, you have to be fully informed. Well, 0:07:57.760 --> 0:08:01.040 propaganda is based on an a mission of facts. You're 0:08:01.080 --> 0:08:05.360 never fully informed when you're when you're being propagandized. Right, 0:08:05.360 --> 0:08:08.080 So therefore there's no such thing as good propaganda. Sure, 0:08:08.080 --> 0:08:11.800 you never see two both sides of the argument with propaganda, right, right, 0:08:11.840 --> 0:08:13.720 So that's I don't think there is such a good 0:08:13.720 --> 0:08:15.480 thing as I take issue. And he's a Georgia State. 0:08:15.560 --> 0:08:17.480 He's not too far. Maybe we should hop on the 0:08:17.520 --> 0:08:20.120 subway and go down him take issue with him. Yeah, 0:08:20.160 --> 0:08:22.400 I want to take issue with this, professor, I got 0:08:22.400 --> 0:08:26.080 some propaganda for you. Yeah. Uh, so, Chuck, how do 0:08:26.120 --> 0:08:29.640 you how do you get propaganda? Cross, Well, there's a 0:08:29.640 --> 0:08:32.120 lot of techniques actually, and these are pretty cool. And 0:08:32.120 --> 0:08:33.760 I know that when people hear these are going to 0:08:33.840 --> 0:08:36.920 be very familiar, maybe not with the name, but with 0:08:37.000 --> 0:08:41.960 the result. Yeah. Um, name calling is a big one. Yeah. 0:08:42.040 --> 0:08:44.520 I I found a poster I showed you. Um, it's 0:08:44.559 --> 0:08:49.040 a takeoff on that Shepherd Ferry right Obama political poster, 0:08:49.280 --> 0:08:51.439 but this one it's a slightly different picture. He has 0:08:51.480 --> 0:08:54.200 his nose in the air and it says snob under. 0:08:54.600 --> 0:08:57.920 It's actually pretty funny. Yeah, especially since you want it's 0:08:57.920 --> 0:09:01.440 a lot funnier because he won, right Yeah uh yeah, true. 0:09:01.720 --> 0:09:04.600 I guess that was done before he won. Yeah uh. 0:09:04.640 --> 0:09:07.640 And you know, name calling is that's just typical playground stuff. 0:09:07.760 --> 0:09:10.240 But they do it on large you know, on a 0:09:10.280 --> 0:09:14.120 large scale. Grown men and women in the political spectrum 0:09:14.280 --> 0:09:18.240 call people out. They'll they'll use names to uh, they'll 0:09:18.320 --> 0:09:22.280 use names like terrorists and trader and like evil doers. 0:09:22.400 --> 0:09:24.600 Stuff that nobody wants to be right. Not to pick 0:09:24.640 --> 0:09:27.680 too much on George Bush, but when you throw down 0:09:27.679 --> 0:09:30.920 words like access of evil and evil doers. That's propaganda 0:09:31.240 --> 0:09:34.360 definitely form Yeah, it is, it is, and it makes 0:09:34.360 --> 0:09:36.640 you wonder like what exactly is going on in Iran 0:09:36.760 --> 0:09:39.680 right now? How much propaganda we're experiencing from that? Sure, 0:09:40.720 --> 0:09:43.200 so that's one technique. Sure, you want to talk about 0:09:43.200 --> 0:09:45.959 the bandwagon, Well, bandwagon is pretty simple. It's like get 0:09:46.000 --> 0:09:48.680 on the winning side, dummy, you know, which is actually 0:09:48.720 --> 0:09:52.440 that example mixed name calling and bandwagon. Nobody wants to 0:09:52.440 --> 0:09:54.439 feel left out, and again this is pretty much a 0:09:54.440 --> 0:09:57.720 playground technique, which is still come with us, then you're 0:09:57.880 --> 0:10:00.400 and your other group, right, or you're gonna be left behind. 0:10:00.440 --> 0:10:02.280 All your friends and neighbors are gonna be cooler than you, 0:10:02.400 --> 0:10:05.920 smarter than you, richer than you, whatever, um. And you know, 0:10:05.960 --> 0:10:10.080 everybody wants to be a part of something good, you know. 0:10:10.160 --> 0:10:13.600 So yeah, basically with with the bandwagon technique, you're made 0:10:13.600 --> 0:10:15.560 to feel like you can be a part of something 0:10:15.600 --> 0:10:19.520 good if you join in, or be left behind if 0:10:19.559 --> 0:10:23.120 you don't. You got it. Thanks. I like this one 0:10:23.160 --> 0:10:26.440 a lot. The glittering generalities. Yeah, it's a great name. Yeah, 0:10:26.480 --> 0:10:29.720 this is really common in political propaganda, and that's when 0:10:29.720 --> 0:10:33.720 you combine words that have positive connotations the concept that 0:10:33.880 --> 0:10:37.440 is beloved. So basically, no one's gonna come out and 0:10:37.480 --> 0:10:40.640 denounce something that you call And I have another example, 0:10:40.679 --> 0:10:43.120 and again not to put on pick on Bush, but 0:10:43.160 --> 0:10:46.200 he was in office for eight years. There's a lot 0:10:46.240 --> 0:10:48.520 of years. You know, there's a lot of recent things 0:10:48.520 --> 0:10:51.480 you can point to, like the Patriot Act. Like anyone 0:10:51.480 --> 0:10:53.640 who would come out and say, oh, the Patriot Act 0:10:53.720 --> 0:10:58.320 is bad, then what you're not a patriot not supporting? Yeah, 0:10:58.360 --> 0:11:00.960 But and the worst part is is it worked. Yeah, 0:11:01.120 --> 0:11:03.800 although do you remember one of the original provisions was 0:11:03.960 --> 0:11:07.960 basically to turn postal workers into spies, and the post 0:11:08.000 --> 0:11:10.960 Office said, no, we're not going to do that, right, 0:11:11.360 --> 0:11:13.880 and it got left out. But they wanted postal workers 0:11:13.880 --> 0:11:15.360 to keep an eye on what was going on, to 0:11:15.440 --> 0:11:19.560 report on communities and individual people, right, Yeah, So other 0:11:19.600 --> 0:11:22.319 words you can use in the glittering general generalities or 0:11:22.640 --> 0:11:26.360 words like liberty and dreams and family and you you 0:11:26.400 --> 0:11:29.400 throw these words in there, and you know, God forbid 0:11:29.440 --> 0:11:32.599 you step up and say something that's anti family just 0:11:32.600 --> 0:11:37.200 because they tagged that name to it, right exactly, And 0:11:37.280 --> 0:11:39.559 all all politicians do this. We're not we're not gonna 0:11:39.679 --> 0:11:42.040 single things out. It happens all over the place on 0:11:42.080 --> 0:11:44.480 both sides of the spectrum. Yeah, it's just that Bush 0:11:44.559 --> 0:11:47.360 was in office for eight years, which I just said 0:11:48.640 --> 0:11:52.720 you should listen. Cards stacking. Card stacking is exactly what 0:11:52.760 --> 0:11:56.160 it sounds like. It's stacking. Uh, it's stacking the argument 0:11:56.200 --> 0:11:59.000 in the favor of one side over another. Right. Um, 0:11:59.040 --> 0:12:01.000 and again this is the is the one that where 0:12:01.080 --> 0:12:04.440 fact emission really comes into play, you know. Um And 0:12:04.440 --> 0:12:07.880 and it's most often seen in political campaigns where you know, 0:12:07.960 --> 0:12:11.440 one candidate is like Broadwater. Have you ever seen Ali 0:12:11.559 --> 0:12:14.800 g Yeah, did you ever see the barat where he 0:12:14.800 --> 0:12:19.120 follows around that candidate, Jim Broadwater. It's hilarious. At one point, 0:12:19.160 --> 0:12:21.280 he tells a voter that Broadwater is talking to that 0:12:21.600 --> 0:12:25.400 if you do not vote for Broadwater, Broadwater will take power. 0:12:25.960 --> 0:12:29.040 It's hilarious. And he compares him to Stalin. Yeah, and 0:12:29.080 --> 0:12:32.160 this is is poor you know Republican guys running for 0:12:32.200 --> 0:12:36.120 city councilmen. But yeah, have Betty last you didn't? He 0:12:36.559 --> 0:12:38.680 I don't know, I'd like to find that out. But yeah. 0:12:38.720 --> 0:12:42.920 Card stacking is basically just um saying, here's our candidates great, 0:12:42.920 --> 0:12:46.680 great attributes, leaving out any bad stuff. Well, details and 0:12:46.679 --> 0:12:50.840 statistics too, Like they'll throw out legitimate studies, but studies 0:12:50.880 --> 0:12:53.440 that don't mention the other study that can point out 0:12:53.480 --> 0:12:58.960 the exact opposite. Nice point, Chuck, card stacking like Facebook, Yeah, 0:12:59.000 --> 0:13:04.960 it's exactly. And then it is my favorite fear. That's 0:13:05.000 --> 0:13:08.400 a big one. So, Chuck, say we were to point 0:13:08.440 --> 0:13:13.120 out that the guys who host tech stuff uh steal 0:13:13.200 --> 0:13:17.000 babies in America and then sell them to human traffickers 0:13:17.200 --> 0:13:19.880 in the Balkans. You're saying that Jonathan Strickland and Chris 0:13:19.920 --> 0:13:22.920 Puette would do that. I'm just saying I've heard things, 0:13:23.679 --> 0:13:25.760 So I mean, don't you think would be a good 0:13:25.800 --> 0:13:28.200 idea to not listen to their podcast and all the 0:13:28.200 --> 0:13:30.559 people who are tech stuff fans maybe come over and 0:13:31.080 --> 0:13:34.400 listen to us instead, because we certainly don't steal babies 0:13:34.440 --> 0:13:37.040 and we would never sell any to human traffickers if 0:13:37.080 --> 0:13:40.840 we did. That's spaganda. Great example, Josh, thanks, of course, 0:13:40.880 --> 0:13:42.400 we have to do them on the tech Stuff podcast 0:13:42.440 --> 0:13:49.680 so they'd hear it. Yeah, good point. Uh, subliminal subliminal messaging. 0:13:49.720 --> 0:13:53.120 I'm sorry I should say it. Subliminally subliminal messaging. Huh. 0:13:53.440 --> 0:13:56.079 I feel like doing your bidding all of a sudden exactly, 0:13:56.160 --> 0:13:58.959 and that is, uh, that's one of the oldest tricks 0:13:58.960 --> 0:14:03.240 in the book. And that's basically images and whip. Yeah, 0:14:03.320 --> 0:14:05.520 it's oldest drick in the book. Now it's you know 0:14:05.559 --> 0:14:07.320 how it is. It's images and words that are so 0:14:07.440 --> 0:14:10.880 quick and abstract that you don't consciously recognize it. Again, 0:14:11.440 --> 0:14:13.600 we keep going back to politics because it's just so 0:14:13.679 --> 0:14:17.439 obvious with politics. But at any campaign poster for anyone, 0:14:17.520 --> 0:14:20.080 from it somebody running for school board to somebody running 0:14:20.080 --> 0:14:23.160 for president, they always have red, white and blue in them. 0:14:23.480 --> 0:14:26.440 They'll often have a star or the the there there'll 0:14:26.480 --> 0:14:29.880 be a wavy graphic that's kind of reminiscent of a flag. 0:14:30.240 --> 0:14:32.160 And none of these things are concrete like that that 0:14:32.280 --> 0:14:34.720 you never see the candidate dress as a statue of liberty. 0:14:34.920 --> 0:14:38.000 They're actually wrapped in a flag. It's a little more 0:14:38.040 --> 0:14:41.600 subtle than that, but it has the same effect. Obama 0:14:41.680 --> 0:14:44.760 symbol was exactly like that. The one that they designed. 0:14:44.760 --> 0:14:46.680 It was kind of looked like the wavy flag in 0:14:46.720 --> 0:14:50.400 the circle. It makes the Owen snob, It doesn't it does. 0:14:50.840 --> 0:14:54.080 I'll show you more closely. But yeah, so, and actually 0:14:54.080 --> 0:14:57.360 a really good way to kind of pick out this 0:14:57.480 --> 0:15:02.720 kind of propaganda. What it's called transfer, right, um, is 0:15:02.760 --> 0:15:07.200 to pretend you're from another country. Right, so all of 0:15:07.280 --> 0:15:10.080 a sudden that wave, what's that wave for? Or what's 0:15:10.120 --> 0:15:13.280 that star for? Like stuff we just take for granted 0:15:13.280 --> 0:15:16.720 that immediately because in our neurons are like patriot, patriot, 0:15:16.800 --> 0:15:19.920 you know, Um, if you imagine you're from another country, 0:15:19.920 --> 0:15:24.520 suddenly you deconstruct these abstract images and it seems a 0:15:24.560 --> 0:15:27.640 little clunky, clumsy, doesn't have the same effect. What these 0:15:27.720 --> 0:15:31.840 way they star exactly in Soviet Russia, wavy star doesn't 0:15:31.960 --> 0:15:37.480 understand you. That's good, thank you that what do? What 0:15:37.520 --> 0:15:40.600 happened to that guy? And then lastly there's plain folks propaganda, 0:15:40.640 --> 0:15:43.600 which is kind of weak. Actually, yeah, that didn't. That 0:15:43.640 --> 0:15:45.880 didn't strike me as propaganda when I read it, like 0:15:46.160 --> 0:15:49.400 kind of the politician trying to seem like your average ordinary, 0:15:49.560 --> 0:15:53.200 you know, next door neighbor American. Um, I guess it's 0:15:53.200 --> 0:15:56.080 propaganda if the article says so, But it never struck 0:15:56.120 --> 0:15:58.000 me as that. Well, technically it is, because it's an 0:15:58.040 --> 0:16:01.280 omission of fact. So you know, if they sure the 0:16:01.320 --> 0:16:04.200 candidate loves fishing, but is he really fishing in some 0:16:04.320 --> 0:16:07.200 rinky dink rowboat that he rented from like a local fisherman. 0:16:07.640 --> 0:16:10.000 Or is he on like an eight foot yacht, you know, 0:16:10.320 --> 0:16:12.880 using babies that he bought off the tech stuff guys 0:16:12.920 --> 0:16:16.000 bait or or what did they set up some you 0:16:16.040 --> 0:16:18.760 know TV commercial where they did take him to that 0:16:18.800 --> 0:16:22.240 farm in the rinky dink rowboat and said, hey, excellent 0:16:22.240 --> 0:16:27.520 points with you for five most decidedly propaganda. Yeah, so yeah, plane, folks, 0:16:27.520 --> 0:16:30.000 is propaganda to and Chuck. The more you start looking 0:16:30.200 --> 0:16:33.200 or thinking about propaganda, the more you realize it is 0:16:33.800 --> 0:16:39.320 everywhere it is, Chuck, how well it's it's it's where 0:16:39.360 --> 0:16:41.680 you would expect it to be, which is in print, 0:16:41.760 --> 0:16:45.520 on the internet, TV, radio, movies, you name it. Like 0:16:45.560 --> 0:16:47.360 I was talking about with the with the eighties movies 0:16:47.400 --> 0:16:50.800 and the Cold War, I mean every every action movie 0:16:50.840 --> 0:16:53.520 that came out, the Russians were the enemy pretty much, 0:16:53.960 --> 0:16:56.560 and then kind of later on it became Middle Easterners 0:16:56.560 --> 0:16:59.560 were the enemy. Like look who Rambo fought and who 0:16:59.640 --> 0:17:02.800 Rocky thought. Those were prime examples the Russian. But he 0:17:02.800 --> 0:17:06.679 helped the mujah hadein a k a. The Taliban. He 0:17:06.760 --> 0:17:08.800 did what in uh one of the Rambo movies the 0:17:08.840 --> 0:17:11.320 third Rambo movie. He and at the very end it's 0:17:11.440 --> 0:17:14.280 they said that they dedicated the movie to the muja 0:17:14.359 --> 0:17:17.600 Hadean freedom fighters and the mujah Hadein who we were 0:17:17.760 --> 0:17:22.080 funding to help fight the Russians in Afghanistan turned into 0:17:22.080 --> 0:17:27.200 the Taliban won. What Chuck Norris is not happy about 0:17:27.240 --> 0:17:29.320 that at all. He's been after still long since in 0:17:30.000 --> 0:17:33.080 right and show a thing or two? Yeah, so apparently, Um, 0:17:33.119 --> 0:17:36.880 according to one of the uh the the professor's interviewed 0:17:36.920 --> 0:17:42.280 in this article, UM, broadcast media like radio or TV 0:17:43.000 --> 0:17:47.080 is the most dangerous propaganda medium because people tend to 0:17:47.119 --> 0:17:50.440 believe it. Well, not just that there's no discourse, it's 0:17:50.480 --> 0:17:53.920 all one sided. It's all here you ingest this. And 0:17:53.960 --> 0:17:57.440 also it's it's much it's very entertaining. You know, your 0:17:57.480 --> 0:18:01.280 average TV shows usually more entertain aiming then your average 0:18:01.600 --> 0:18:04.200 AP news article. Yeah that's true, you know what I mean. 0:18:04.520 --> 0:18:08.040 But ironically it's the AP news articles that are generally 0:18:08.080 --> 0:18:11.200 the least propagandic. Yeah, you're right, because you think about 0:18:11.240 --> 0:18:15.720 it's like fact fact fact, fact fact quote fact quack. Yes, 0:18:16.200 --> 0:18:19.560 that's that's actually a quote in a fact quack. Um, 0:18:19.680 --> 0:18:23.600 and then um, that's it, right, there's not. It's pretty 0:18:23.600 --> 0:18:27.160 bare bones. I like those political commercials. Those are great. 0:18:27.920 --> 0:18:31.200 Which one, you know, the big time propaganda where they're 0:18:31.200 --> 0:18:35.399 where they're you know, this candidate, your family, stuff like that. 0:18:35.480 --> 0:18:37.840 Do you remember the phone ringing one? I think it 0:18:37.920 --> 0:18:40.639 was a Clinton add against Obama. It was one of 0:18:40.680 --> 0:18:43.320 the last ones she ran during the primary, and it 0:18:43.400 --> 0:18:46.159 was just a phone ringing. Is that when the phone, 0:18:46.320 --> 0:18:48.240 when the phone rings in the middle of the night, 0:18:48.840 --> 0:18:51.280 who do you want as president to answer it? Something 0:18:51.359 --> 0:18:54.400 like that? Right, Yeah, that's that's definitely fear propagandia. Yeah. 0:18:54.440 --> 0:18:56.240 Those crack me up, though, I mean the people that 0:18:56.280 --> 0:19:00.560 buy into those, that's what scares me. The commerce themselves. 0:19:00.600 --> 0:19:02.080 I get a kick out of it. I think it's hysterical. 0:19:02.480 --> 0:19:05.399 Yeah that anyone wouldn't say this is so one sided. 0:19:05.440 --> 0:19:09.480 It's what's mind bogglingly frightening is that it actually works 0:19:09.520 --> 0:19:15.520 on some people, so um chuck. Propagana also sometimes is 0:19:15.600 --> 0:19:19.240 not necessarily contrived. It just kind of comes out. Like 0:19:19.280 --> 0:19:21.679 I spent a few years as a journalist, right and 0:19:21.720 --> 0:19:25.480 I realized that it is really easy for your beliefs 0:19:25.600 --> 0:19:28.600 to creep into a story. It doesn't matter whether it's 0:19:28.600 --> 0:19:31.920 a story about somebody who just turned a hundred or um, 0:19:31.960 --> 0:19:35.120 you know about the war in a rock is as 0:19:35.280 --> 0:19:38.800 unbiased as you try to be, it's impossible to be 0:19:38.960 --> 0:19:42.240 totally objective. Right in this very podcast. We get taken 0:19:42.280 --> 0:19:47.560 to task occasionally by people that think we're communist, communists, 0:19:47.800 --> 0:19:51.879 anti religious, sexist, Bommy worshippers, that kind of thing. But 0:19:51.960 --> 0:19:54.000 we're not any of those things. No, not really, And 0:19:54.000 --> 0:19:56.240 if we are, we're sure not aware of it anyway. 0:19:56.320 --> 0:19:59.680 But you know, your belief system informs your outlook, right, 0:20:00.359 --> 0:20:03.080 so you know, just the very position you're taking, just 0:20:03.119 --> 0:20:07.280 the very approach to an article, there's eighty hundred countless 0:20:07.320 --> 0:20:10.520 different ways to approach an article. The one you choose, 0:20:10.600 --> 0:20:13.159 even if you're trying to be objective, that's a choice 0:20:13.200 --> 0:20:15.159 that's a bias right out of the gate. And you're 0:20:15.160 --> 0:20:17.000 gonna choose the one that you identify with that you 0:20:17.080 --> 0:20:19.199 understand more. Yeah, so again, I mean, I guess what 0:20:19.240 --> 0:20:21.480 I'm trying to say is, if you're getting news, only 0:20:21.480 --> 0:20:25.399 get it from a p not a bad idea. Thank you, Chuck. 0:20:25.920 --> 0:20:29.840 You want to move along, uh different types of propaganda, Well, 0:20:29.880 --> 0:20:32.159 let let's talk about the internet real quick, because I 0:20:32.200 --> 0:20:35.640 find this interesting. The Internet actually has the potential to 0:20:35.640 --> 0:20:40.040 totally undermine traditional propaganda, right, So well, think about it, like, 0:20:40.080 --> 0:20:44.840 if broadcast programming is the most dangerous form propaganda because 0:20:44.840 --> 0:20:48.240 there's no feedback, then the Internet would be the least 0:20:48.320 --> 0:20:51.800 dangerous form because there's nothing but feedback. Social media has 0:20:51.840 --> 0:20:54.760 just opened the Internet up to everybody in any crack 0:20:54.840 --> 0:20:59.439 pot normal person saint can put this stuff on the 0:20:59.480 --> 0:21:03.080 Internet and and get opposing viewpoints out there, so you 0:21:03.119 --> 0:21:05.919 can conceivably just be a fully informed person to make 0:21:05.920 --> 0:21:10.959 your own decisions, which completely undermines um propaganda, right right. 0:21:11.560 --> 0:21:18.000 The problem is, you know, facts spreading lightning fast just 0:21:18.040 --> 0:21:23.639 as much as that undermines propaganda. Um, uninformed ideas or 0:21:23.840 --> 0:21:26.919 facts that aren't really facts can spread just as quickly, 0:21:27.760 --> 0:21:30.280 and that helps propaganda. So yeah, and the Internet is 0:21:30.320 --> 0:21:32.440 just rife with that kind of time. What my solution, 0:21:32.680 --> 0:21:35.720 Snopes dot com. Yeah, they're pretty good. So let's talk 0:21:35.720 --> 0:21:38.480 about the different types of propaganda and wrap this puppy 0:21:38.600 --> 0:21:42.359 up like a Christmas president. Religious propaganda was kind of 0:21:42.359 --> 0:21:45.119 where it all began, like we said earlier, and uh, 0:21:45.720 --> 0:21:51.880 missionaries yeah, for centuries have been uh even and they've 0:21:51.880 --> 0:21:55.320 been traveling to other countries trying to recruit others to 0:21:55.480 --> 0:21:59.159