Propaganda for Progress: The Importance of Creating Hope in Challenging Times

Adolf Hitler, for all his obvious flaws, was a very smart man. He had come to understand that for his vision of making Nazi Germany the most dominant force in the world to be implemented, he needed more that just planning. He needed his people, his soldiers, to buy into the concept. Enter Paul Joseph Goebbels. Perhaps Hitler’s closest friend and confidant, Goebbels served as Minister for public enlightenment and propaganda, with the sole purpose of getting the people to buy into their twisted vision. The Nazi’s understood the importance of propaganda, and how the news media, arts and information dissemination can be turned into a potent weapon for achieving your goals. They understood that a country can literally achieve anything if its people buy into it. And most students al history will tell you that, save for a few strategic errors made, the Nazi’s were indeed way on their way to achieving their goal of European dominance.

As we navigate the challenging economic landscape we unfortunately find ourselves in, it is pretty evident that one of the biggest challenges we are facing, aside from the actual economy being in a very bad shape, is lack of hope and direction.

Arguably, Malawi biggest economic challenge is its negative balance of payments, and the ensuing strain it puts on our foreign reserves and currency stability. With imports far exceeding exports, we continuously face the risk of currency depreciation and inflation, which undermines purchasing power and overall economic stability.

If you talk to the average Joe on the street, they will, albeit to varying degrees of understanding, have some knowledge of this problem. However, if you were to ask them what is being done to resolve this problem, I would be astounded if you found more than a thousand people in this country who will give you an answer.

The challenge, it appears, is that we do not really have a strategy on how we are going to tackle this problem. And if such strategies do exist, they are only known to a select few, probably in the highest echelons of power. But if we, the people, don’t understand how we plan to surmount this forex problem, who is expected to implement whatever strategies are in place?

We need these clear strategies, detailing exactly how, as a country, are going to tackle the challenge before us. And even more important, we need a very thorough propaganda campaign to get people to buy into these strategies. We need people to believe that even as we face challenging times now, we are working towards a better economic situation. ?

One such strategy could be promoting economic localization, a concept that emphasizes local production, consumption, and investment to bolster domestic resilience and sustainability.

This would entail a fundamental shift in our approach to economic development. Instead of relying heavily on imports for goods and services, we prioritize local resources, businesses, and communities. This approach would look to not only strengthen our economy but also foster a sense of pride, ownership, and self-reliance among our people. While acknowledging that most imported products are indeed better, people could be encouraged to switch to domestically produced alternatives just for the sake of improving the country’s economic situation.

News Media, arts and educational content should be vigorously focused on emphasizing the quality, uniqueness, and authenticity of locally made products while highlighting the positive impact on our economy and environment. Public awareness campaigns can be launched to promote the benefits of economic localization, using various communication channels to reach a wide audience and encourage societal participation and support.

What the country’s authorities must target is shifting the people’s mindset towards understanding that, in as much as there is indeed a problem, even their own small actions can help resolve the issue. We need to create a determination in people to see the back of this problem. We need people buying the Malawian-made cassava crisps in Chipiku instead of Lays, just for the sake of improving our economy. We need people to go to the local designer next time they need a suit, instead of ordering from China. We need to ensure that next time you ask the average Joe on the street about the economic situation in Malawi, they should say “It might be tough, but we are doing something about it!!”.

?