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Joseph Hex's avatar

Great summary of a great book. "Propaganda" is a life-changing read. It was written based on his experiences in WW2, and was thus based on propaganda using pre-computer technology. Now with social media, smartphones, learning machines, smartwatches, internet profiles and all the rest, take anything Ellul says about the effectiveness of propaganda and multiply it by 100.

Covid stands as the ultimate testament to its power. A virus that killed few, a vaccine that saved none, masks that helped nothing, lockdowns that harmed more than helped, yet all was executed without trouble by a compliant populace - Worldwide.

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John Bunyan's avatar

Here's my propagandized brain talking, perhaps trying to subconsciously justify past actions: is propoganda always bad? Granted, it's usually bad, but the idea that people need to share common beliefs to create a functional society seems almost like a tautology. I guess I'm trying to draw a distinction between the medium (propaganda) and the message (secular consumerism/covidian nonsense/hyper-patriotism). Can propoganda ever be used for good? And to get religious about it: could Christ's teachings be considered propaganda?

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