Manipulating Hearts and Minds

For so many years in school I learned about our great country and our many freedoms here in the U.S.A., which include freedom of speech and the press. I was so shocked to learn about the unbelievable control of the American people and their consciousness by the government and the media. The military of the U.S. and the Bush administration were so closed with their facts and information. They controlled all the information on the war especially on the radio and television. No one could challenge our National War policy. No one.

Hearts and Minds

"What was repeated for domestic consumption was that the United State was
engaged in an allied effort, supported by the United Nations, that also embraced
the sentiments of a good part of the world."

American people believed the US participated militarily in the first Iraqi War because we were contributing military support along with many other countries. What television and newspapers failed to mention were that citizens from Japan, Egypt, Jordan, Spain, North African cities and Latin America opposed participation in this war.

To loosen the "cocoon drawn around the American mind", the NY Times published a paid advertisement from a private group of Japanese making a statement against military intervention in international matters. This advertisement was placed weeks after the wars end, but it made a clear statement of an opposition to military involvement in the war.

United Nations support came from European, English speaking countries that shared similar industrial and economics interests as America. This too, was something not so visible to the American people who relied on the nations decision and the information provided from journalists.

Then and Now

Its funny how msotly every adverstisement during World War Two revolved around the cause and how to support it. These days we keep seeing prices of everything rise but it is kind of kept under the radar that the prices are rising because the dollar keeps losing its value. we are at the end of our run as a superpower for so many reasons. Our military is scattered to all parts of the world, our deficit is over 240 billion and keeps rising and while we keep giving aid to other countries with money we do not have, China and Saudi Arabia will soon want to cash in on buying our debt. So signs like the one in this blog will never be seen again because not everyone believes in the Iraq cause and it just seems to keep costing us more and more money we do not have. when did the U.S. become an eighteen year old who just got thier first credit card and went to town on it.

Triumph of the Wilth

This video was interesting because it displayed images of a happiness, and showing pride in one's country. It showed shots of parents and children sitting in the front seat, and the flags were set in a new directions symbolizing going in a "new motion." The Nazi's portrayed themselves as a unified country. Their night time events were a huge part of Nazi organization,labor, and youth which were all institutionalized. Bonfires were a traditional thing for which symbolized power. While in 1934 there was the Great Depression in the Unites States, Nazi's were offering work and unemployment. To show the masculinity and racial pride, they displayed men working together superiorly, and strong bodies. They were working together pulling towards for a new future for Germany. Associate the party with food, and if you had no job you can still have food. Mass singing, marching together, talking together, By doing these things pyschologically, bring minds together to unite. They showed their traditional dressing. Theory of montage, taking pictures of womens' faces, and cutting out Hitler associates montage of smiling women. Hitler was smiling about the future leaders of the the next generation.

MEN'S VIEW OF WOMEN REALLY SUCKS

"I can pay incredibly stiff taxes with an equally stiff upper lip. I can accept shortages without complaining; I can face the possibilities of severe rationing without going to pieces....I can fight. I can win. And I can look damn pretty right through it all."

The reason why I picked this particular quote because it is very empowering, especially during WWII in the fourties when this era was still sexiest and chauvenistic. It shows that women can take the same jobs as men and probably preform them better.

In the novel The Feminine Mystique written by Betty Freidman in 1963, she says that "The image of woman that emerges...is young and frivolous , almost childlike; fluffy and feminine;passive;gaily content in a world of bedroom and kitchen; sex, babies, and home."

Freidman explains that after the WWII was over, the idea of domestic life for women came back into play. The view of women who once were considered war heroes themselves, by joining auxillaries and working in factories, were now being considered either "Sex Kittens" or "Housewife Material".

"Anti Japs"

I chose this picture because I think that this shows the dehumanizing the "Japs" it also give people the thought that if they do talk the rat ears will hear and ou boys over there will end up getting hurt. I think that these pictures are very smart to have made up for the war department. This is smart becuase it makes your oppents seem to be inferior and easier to kill because its not killing a human. to me i think that is the best piece of propaganda to be used in a war.

Time for an offensive

This article is very interesting and rings true. The author of this piece is unknown but he has a very powerful message for propagandists during war time. Tell the truth. For instance, during wartime many reporters like to produce things called "scarelines" in order to sell papers. These usually involved exagerations. This author argues that an overuseage of these couldlead to mistrust by the leader. He aruges it seems fake and forced. He states this clearly when he writes,

"Let's quit saying 'these are dangerous times.' Let's not preface our writing orour thinking by such references as 'this critical and uncertain period."

I happen to agree with this statement and although I don't think it would work at first, I think it would build a trust with the media from the public that is not seem much in these days.

Chickenshit in Wartime

While, flipping through the book Wartime by Paul Fussel, I came across chapter 7 titled,"Chickenshit, An Anatomy," so of course I felt compelled to read it, even though it wasn't assigned. The chapter raised one of the best points that refers to life and not just wartime. The chapter starts with a young man, Timothy Corsellis, who felt compelled with pride to join RAF, the Royal Air Force. He was ready to die for a cause that was bigger than himself, but he had not anticipated the "petty injustice and the everlasting grudges." He was killed when he was 21 and it was written that dying was better than the chickenshit that goes on.

"Chickenshit referes rather to behavior that makes military life worse than it need be: petty harrasment of the weak by the strong; open scrimmage for power and authority and prestige; sadism thinly disguised as necessary discipline; a constant "paying off of old scores"; and insistence on the letter rather than the spirit of ordinances. Chickenshit is so called-instead of horse or bull- or elephant shit-because it is small-minded and ignoble and takes the TRIVIAL seriously. Chickenshit can be recognized instantly because it never has anything to do with winning the war."

Doesn't that refer to life also, and not just war? People have to go through that on a regular basis. We are always fighting to be better and have better things. We are always walking over people weaker than us, even though it's not admitted, and we always put the most emphasis on the trivial things. We make the trivial things the most important, and regret it after it's too late. Life is based on chickenshit and will always be about, "the petty injustice and the evelasting grudges." Is that too pessimistic a concept?

Vogue's Eye View of A Woman's Weapons

"I am a woman, and I have two major weapons. I have my hands. I have my heart."
Reading just the first line of this editorial from the number one fashion magazine, Vogue, gave me chills. I guess that is what the editor was trying to achieve from it's readers when she wrote this. I know that this editorial is just a piece of the bigger picture of propaganda, but it does it's job. As a woman myself, I felt a sense of pride and duty after reading the whole piece. The piece does one thing that is really strong and that is that it pulls on the heartstrings of every woman who reads it. While doing so, it also tells women what to do.

"I can pay incredibly stiff taxes with an equally stiff upper lip. I can
accept shortages without complaining; I can face the possibilities of severe rationing without going to pieces....I can fight. I can win. And I can look damn pretty right through it all."

What an exellent piece of propaganda. It still speaks to women more that 60 years later. It makes me want to do all those things and I know that it is propaganda