What is Desire for Propaganda?
What is rumor and gossip and how does it relate to desire for propaganda? Governments must always create propaganda. It’s just a matter of what kind of regime the social order has. Some are more aggressive than others. All propaganda needs pillars to support it. Defining the pillars is what to look for as an individual. Whom to respect as an authority? And why? Feelings of participation are always present and they usually begin with the individual inside a family. It then branches out into outer social mechanisms already present. An illusion of choice is created especially when their are many brand names to peruse. Politics, being one of the main instigators, uses these techniques to define an agenda.
Everyone has an opinion.
What citizen would believe he or she has no opinion? Surveys indicate this to be true on any subject. Even if an individual has no knowledge of a subject most are willing to give an opinion or express a snarky sarcasm.
Especially the uninformed ones. That’s OK. It’s what people do…
All this and more satisfies our basic need to participate and fulfill our Desire for Propaganda. Sometimes even in the most trivial affairs. And mostly an individual may not want information but an already preconceived notion or a value judgement to base an opinion on. No one can keep up with the deluge of information we all face.
A democracy does gain from this, but it always leads to more propaganda.
Modern man is a believer in freedom and needs reasons to justify making himself work. Many aggressive social regimes in the past have used these inclusive techniques to motivate workers in production factories. To provide collective and ideological motivations is the exact task propaganda provides. Agitators are workers who introduce new workers into an order to produce. Sometimes a social order may have no choice and use strict propaganda to resolve economic problems.
Needs for explanations and values are paramount.
Creating a general panorama that includes history and politics is the foundation of all propaganda. Always showing the progress is key. This historical pillar allows for the individual to classify any news received. Our Desire for Propaganda explains the reasons, causes, promises, and solutions to all problems a society may encounter. Propaganda can prevent an awareness of being desperate. Used properly it can really lift spirits. History also shows us the more forceful properties it creates.
Why is there an irrepressible need for desire of propaganda in the mind of man?
Why does mankind provoke itself to action? Simply because we are all susceptible to suggestion. One looks for meaning in life, the need to share, and to be included. Like the idea of The Lonely Crowd gathered together in a movie theatre filling the inner void with some sort of meaning. This is only a temporary remedy. Stories do provide us all with a sense of community. Propaganda is the true remedy for loneliness. It communicates to us through the language of myths. Information alone cannot satisfy the need for action. Propaganda turns an individual interest in politics to a political action.
What man or woman likes to feel unimportant?
Who doesn’t enjoy being the hero? Movies only go so far to fill that void. Propaganda can create the feeling that an individual is free and to act on collective movements he or she finds fulfilling. It boosts the self-esteem by addressing each individual. It should appeal to the ME. Good propaganda will appeal to MY desires, provoke MY anger, My indignation, My feelings of justice. And with a new found superego one can reach the stars with mere ego alone. My id is satisfied for the moment.
Participating in a mass society does make the individual feel unimportant.
This all stems from the general environment people find themselves in: housing, noise, lack of privacy, loss of authority, lackluster means to satisfy ambition, dependence on your employer, public utilities, transportation, public authority, etc.(add your own examples here)
Is political activity a decent medium to release tensions properly in our desire for propaganda?
One must admit that propaganda does permit the prohibited. Mankind always has a need for hate. Propaganda always provides an object or source to vilify. Always having an enemy available is key. The hatred must seem to be legitimate. It can liberate repressed passions and use devious channels in journalism. Satire is one such element used to attack an authority. This can channel a passion.
Human relations and self criticism are tools used to denounce shortcomings in people and institutions. Its purpose is to relax tensions and channel aggressive tendencies. The social order itself need not fear, only bureaucrats and individuals become the scapegoats. The more criticism permitted, the more the citizen is tied to the overall social order. This is not a liberal approach but an integration into a consolidated state.