Propaganda in Terms of Psychological War - Admission/Application Essay Example

All throughout history it is evident that the use of persuasion especially during times of political unrest is palpable. Even the wars that are happening at this very moment are tainted by propaganda. The need to configure the views of the general public and the requisite to proliferate favorable notions is important in the need to move people to action. The mass media plays a vital role in all of these because they are the ones who have the capacity to communicate in large volumes for those who have agendas to be seen and heard. There remains the connotation that the word propaganda is something that is negative and this is not always true. This is why there are differences. What usual comes to mind upon the precept of the word is what is termed as ‘black propaganda’ and not all propaganda serves a destructive purpose. But it remains that war and propaganda go hand in hand all the time. The war on Iraq alone may have not materialized has it not been for Pres. George W. Bush’s persistence on the existence of weapons of mass destructions that Pres. Saddam Hussein was allegedly hoarding. Suffice to say, Hussein got executed, the war has been going on for years and still, no trace of any weapons of mass destructions were still found. This is one great example of propaganda used in a compromising way. At this moment only time will tell whether the United States’ decision to take it upon itself to be the safeguard and bringer of democracy on the Arab nation is a virtuous decision. Fresh from the heartache of 9/11 and angered by Osama Bin Laden, it is still a conundrum at this point why it is that it is in Iraq that the government is spending billions on its war efforts. Only time will tell but there is no doubt at this point that it is one of the most debated issues that concerns all Americans. Before the war, a poll by the Washington Post recorded that 57% of adults in the United States favor the move. Looking at it from a different perspective, it is safe to say that most of those polled do not have significant interest in foreign policy but there seems to be an stimulus that propelled them to come up with the opinion they have rendered. There is an outside force other than themselves that thrusts them into their decisions. That ‘something’ is what propaganda is. In comes in a plethora of forms and pro-war propaganda are some of the most noticeable because of their crudeness. They have a characteristic of substituting logical thinking with reaction solely through emotion (McCarthy, par.3-4). One of the most integral aspects essential to propaganda is repetition. It contains the same formula advertisers use to draw in consumers into purchasing their products. It is also similar to the strategies used in politics by those who know how vital it is to put across their agenda. There is a particular number of times of reiterations before a product can be recognized and consequently bought. In a political perspective that product may be war, and those who endorse it are aware they will have to tediously communicate their agenda. This is the same tactic neoconservatives used in selling the people the Iraq War and it will be the same used if other wars are decided to be waged. The volume of the propaganda is important to confer it with the psychological force it necessitates (McCarthy, par. 5) Another requisite is consistency. The propaganda must be contained in different sources to establish the congruence that it should have. This way it is deemed by the receiver of the information as logical though it may not have a correlation with outside forces. Aesthetically, the more sources equates to its perceived truth which is of course not necessarily veritable (McCarthy, par. 6-7). McCarthy further explains as an issue that is inevitable that the war on terrorism as we so often hear is not a war because it is an abstraction. It is a type of behavior that could be employed anytime. There is no absolute amount or an area of terrorism in the earth that could be located and thus shattered. As with the ‘war on poverty’ or the ‘war on drugs’ it is a metaphorical war. In comparison, at the very least, tangible wars can be ended through victory by eliminating the other forces. This is a fake war where no one can win and consequently no one can lose (par. 9-10). This has been seen over and over again for years as far back as we can remember. The Spanish-American War for example is viewed today as a propaganda scuffle between two of the most influential people in the American press industry. Motivated by profit Joseph Pulitzer and William Randolph Hearst used propaganda and created yellow journalism to impel the war between the United States and imperial Spain. It was not because of world dominance or superior urges of manifestation but rather profit that started this war that was triggered by the shady ‘bombing’ of Maine (Probert, par. 1). World War II also made discernible to an incomparable amount the use of propaganda on the dissemination of information to instill a specified opinion for the inexorableness of a war. Adolf Hitler utilized it to predispose the people of the threat the Jews bring to humanity. He was so convincing that he was able to instill hatred to his minions that led to brutal and murderous anti-Semitism during the bloody Second World War between the Axis and the Allied Forces. Pamphlets, broadcast and other materials were disseminated to induce them to a particular viewpoint they do not at first necessarily share. Through propaganda they are able to manipulate feelings and disregard thought (Probert, par.15). It is the responsibility of the intellectuals to expose government lies and be analytical of actions in relation to their justification including motives and intentions of those who are in power. This is an underlying responsibility of political liberty. As democracy is provident of leisure it is also equipped with freedom of expression. Misrepresentations and distortion must be exposed by those who have the higher mental capability to be advocators of what is right (Chomsky, par.2). The privileges that intellectuals enjoy must be used for the betterment of the majority of people and they must not remain complacent in their positions, they are not merely observers but are active participants of the society. As Ignacio Ramonet once said, it is easy to dominate one who is not aware of domination and this is not bounded by physical force alone. It takes a lot of form and one must be keen and independent to self-guarantee subjectivity. Bibliography Chomsky, Noam. "The Responsibility of Intellectuals." The New York Review of Books 23 Feb. 1967. McCarthy, Daniel. "The Propaganda War." LewRockwell. 2002. 20 Apr. 2009 . Probert, Jeffrey. "Propaganda: Spanish American War ." History Ephemeral. 2009. 22 Apr. 2009 . Read More