Time to Wake Up America

Have you heard the story about the frog that died by being boiled to death? To be concise, if you put a frog in boiling water it will jump out to save itself. But, if you put a frog in cool water and gradually turn up the heat to a boil that same frog will sit in that pot and die.

Today America is in the process of becoming that second frog regarding losing our democracy, eviscerating our Constitution, and dismissing the rule of law.

Does our country have issues that are frustrating to its citizens?

YES!

With immigration, inflation, gun violence, police reform, and the wealth gap, some of our citizens feel the country no longer is the America they once knew, and their pleas for help not have been heard and much more.

Fertile ground for a charismatic, self-assured, determined, yet unprincipled, void of integrity, and bombastic narcissistic snake oil salesman to capitalize on those fears for his glory versus helping our nation, rise above our challenges.

In his own words, daily he tells you how he is going to "rule" America if he is elected. It will be one of the great "revenge and retribution" tours ever seen in global history. Or will it?

He has a road map to make this happen. Hiler, Mussolini, Kim Jung Un, Xi in China, and Putin to name a few (most of whom he deeply admires) have used a similar roadmap to gain and hold onto power with an an iron fist.

.Some of our citizens have been brainwashed, into believing his lies. Some have been waiting covertly for someone, anyone, to become their champion to "take their country back" (keyword "take").

Many of our citizens have succumbed to the machine gun-like lies and disinformation that are spread minute-by-minute. They sadly believe what's being told to them because they believe what is being told to them is factual.

Many of our citizens will not believe the factual truth for many reasons no matter what. For others who still have somewhat of an open mind, this is whom I am writing this article for.

There is a strategy and playbook for what is being said, how it is being said, and where it is being said.

That strategy and playbook were written by Joseph Goebbels, Adolf Hitler's Propaganda Minister

Take a moment and read through them and think about what has been said over the last few years.

Propaganda - Goebbels' Principles

Joseph Goebbels

Dr. Joseph Goebbels, besides being an intriguing character, was the Propaganda Minister for Hitler's Third Reich. He was recognized as a master of propaganda as his work was studied after WWII. Goebbels did not survive to enjoy the recognition; he and his wife committed suicide on 1 May 1945, a week before the final collapse of the Third Reich.

After the war, US personnel discovered a very large diary dictated by Goebbels. In it are his principles of propaganda. Leonard Doob's 1950 article details them from a translation of the diary by Louis Lochner (1948).

Hitler's Basic Principles

These principles are abstracted from Jowett & O'Donnell.

• Avoid abstract ideas - appeal to emotions.
• Constantly repeat just a few ideas. Use stereotyped phrases.
• Give only one side of the argument.
• Continuously criticize your opponents.
• Pick out one special "enemy" for special vilification.

Goebbels' Principles of Propaganda

When reading these propaganda principles, keep in mind that they were applied in wartime (WWII) and involve issues that don't arise otherwise. It's a long list, but Goebbels was dealing with the complexity of an all-out war. While reading them you may realize that some of the principles are generally applicable and not limited to wartime. Some might be quite familiar today. It is interesting to note that Goebbels' principles derive from Hitler's own ideas of propaganda.

1. Propagandists must have access to intelligence concerning events and public opinion.
2. Propaganda must be planned and executed by only one authority. It must issue all the propaganda directives. It must explain propaganda directives to important officials and maintain their morale. It must oversee other agencies' activities that have propaganda consequences.
3. The Propaganda consequences of an action must be considered in planning that action.
4. Propaganda must affect the enemy's policy and actions. By suppressing propagandistically desirable material which can provide the enemy with useful intelligence. By openly disseminating propaganda whose contents or tone causes the enemy to draw the desired conclusions. By goading the enemy into revealing vital information about himself. By making no reference to a desired enemy activity when any reference would discredit that activity.
5. Declassified, operational information must be available to implement a propaganda campaign.
6. To be perceived, propaganda must evoke the interest of an audience and must be transmitted through an attention-getting medium.
7. Credibility alone must determine whether propaganda output should be true or false.
8. The purpose, content, and effectiveness of enemy propaganda; the strength and effects of an expose; and the nature of current propaganda campaigns determine whether enemy propaganda should be ignored or refuted.
9. Credibility, intelligence, and the possible effects of communicating determine whether propaganda materials should be censored.
10. Material from enemy propaganda may be utilized in operations when it helps diminish that enemy's prestige or lends support to the propagandist's own objective.
11. Black rather than white propaganda must be employed when the latter is less credible or produces undesirable effects.
12. Propaganda may be facilitated by leaders with prestige.
13. Propaganda must be carefully timed. The communication must reach the audience ahead of competing propaganda. A propaganda campaign must begin at the optimum moment. A propaganda theme must be repeated, but not beyond some point of diminishing effectiveness.
14. Propaganda must label events and people with distinctive phrases or slogans. They must evoke responses that the audience previously possessed. They must be capable of being easily learned. They must be utilized again and again, but only in appropriate situations. They must be boomerang-proof.
15. Propaganda to the home front must prevent the raising of false hopes which can be blasted by future events.
16. Propaganda to the home front must create an optimum anxiety level. Propaganda must reinforce anxiety concerning the consequences of defeat. Propaganda must diminish anxiety (other than that concerning the consequences of defeat) which is too high and cannot be reduced by people themselves.
17. Propaganda to the home front must diminish the impact of frustration. Inevitable frustrations must be anticipated. Inevitable frustrations must be placed in perspective.
18. Propaganda must facilitate the displacement of aggression by specifying the targets for hatred.
19. Propaganda cannot immediately affect strong counter-tendencies; instead, it must offer some form of action or diversion or both.

These would be principles guiding the conduct of propaganda operations.

References

• Goebbels' Principles of Propaganda, Leonard W. Doob, Public Opinion Quarterly, Fall 1950 pp. 419-442
• Propagation and Persuasion; Jowett & O'Donnell

As you read through this shortened version of these principles did you recognize some of the bullet points being utilized today?

I am sure you did.....

As Malcolm X once told a crowd "You have been bamboozled, hoodwinked, led astray, run amuck, and flat-out deceived."

None of what is being told to you will give you a better life long term. You might want them to go after someone you think is negatively impacting your life. How long will it be before they come for YOU?

In closing, please be an educated and informed voter. DO YOUR HOMEWORK ON EACH CANDIDATE ON YOUR BALLOT!

"DON'T BELIEVE THE HYPE!" - Public Enemy

Our democracy hangs in the balance.

As imperfect as it is, it has been and still is the greatest source of progress, growth, and success in the history of our planet!