Not really. Propaganda serves to sell what you are in ways that aren't true rather than hide and deny it. It would be better to sell something by saying the other way is like Hitler, so you better get in line with us, otherwise you are are supporting Hitler.
I watched a PBS show a week or so ago on the origins of democracy in Athens that pretty much said the same things about the government of 400 B.C. The professional spinmasters that swayed public opinion then are the respected orators whose names we still revere today. In free societies, leaders are more covert because they have to use carrots to inluence the people, and you always have to leave some wiggle room if you can't deliver. In totalitarian societies leaders can more overt because they can suppress opposing points of view and the evaluation of their performance. And they always have the threat of the stick. I think Hugo Chavez reads Chomsky not to lilluminate the world about the United states but to learn how to use propaganda himself. Magicians have always known how to use misdirection of attention and merchants have always known the art of bait and switch. This was a well done show by the way, and the "historian' that hosted it was easy on the eyes: http://www.pbs.org/previews/athens/
All religion is delusional, why pick on one more than the others? If the idea is to promote complete deference to a mythic, omnipotent power to free oneself from the outrageous fortunes of corporeal existence then they are actually doing a pretty good job.
Defintely disagree with a large chunk of this, but I don't always agree with some of my favorite political writers. That's why I try to read a lot of them. The more opinions, the better, as far as I'm concerned. Here, Chomsky ignores Iran's funding of Hezbollah, for example, which has a record of "terror, subversion, and aggression," in Lebanon and Israel, helping to maintain the instability Syria is most responsible for in Lebanon. There's no question that internal repression in Iran is heightened, or given aid and comfort, by the US foreign policy towards that country under Bush. An outside threat is one of the oldest things in the playbook used by oligarchies, dictatorships, and in this case, theocracies, throughout history. Of course, the theocracy keeps asking for it by its actions, but Bush's clumsy moves feed their propaganda machine endless material. Pakistan, India, and Israel didn't obtain atomics with "the blessings" of the US, in my opinion, unless you consider ineffective responses to those countries giving them "blessings." Some might make a case that Israel getting nukes happened with our blessing, but I've read conflicting material about that. The other two countries did it without our help and without our "blessings." Most of the world regards the US as the greatest threat to world peace? No, many regard Bush as that, but not the US. I wouldn't agree with "most of the world" at all, but certainly large chunks of it, for various reasons mostly tied to Bush and his foreign policy. So, a mixed bag, but Chomsky comes up with some jewels from time to time. Trim Bush!
1 Billion people have this sickness....... ...you’ve joined the likes of bigtexxx/roxran/stupidmoniker(& a few others who i can't recall)….all extremists in their own way….
How many Nazis would there be in the world if they were not stopped? Numbers mean nothing. Both are totalitarian in nature and evil.
Please educate me on how you believe 1 billion people are ‘evil’ like the Nazi’s, I’d really like to know your rationale behind this fanatical assessment….
People are not evil. I never said they were. However, the authoritarian philosophies they subscribe to can be.
On a serious note, I believe the exact opposite. Any evil person can take a teaching and abuse it. It is the person who ultimately chooses. Islam does not say to give slashings to anyone who names a Teddy bear, it is evil people who do that.
Why is it all Nazi's get crucified because of the actions of a few. There were some Nazi's that just made the trains on time and they never killed any Jews. Other than the World War and the Holocaust , Nazism had some very positive effects; on the morale of the German people, on innovation and technology, resistance to communist world domination and, the fascinating science of Eugenics. It would be inflamatory to judge all Nazis by Hitler. The point is...don't ever be a follower. Of anything but sports teams... that's perfectly harmless.
What? The cold war was all hype and propoganda? You mean that the USSR, in fact, did not have nukes 90 miles off our shore in Cuba? That was all propoganda? News flash...the dangers of the cold war were very real. I don't think that Iran is the same as the Nazis, but it is disturbing to know that there is a faction weilding some power that wants us and Isreal destroyed completely.
here's a tip. I've put FranchiseBlade on ignore. The guy is just so completely delusional that he's not even worth reading
Franchsieblade is a FRAUD. He puts little Hitler of Iran before Americans lives. I guarantee you, when it comes right down to it, Franchiseblade, the phoney fraud, puts little Hitler of Iran before your country squirrell hunting ass ROXRAN. You know it too.
Of course he does. He has this absurd belief of guilt about him, so he automatically sides with the likes of Ahmadinjihad and Hugo Chavez over our proud country. The guy is delusional, so as I mentioned, he's on my ignore list.
Cause you're like " rah rah rah, let's kill em damn mauslums".... you can pick any topic that has to do with the foreign policy, I can predict which direction you are going to take.... to me that's being an extremist, it’s dangerous when people follow blindly behind a cause without raising questions. Everything is not so black and white like you make it out to be….EVERYONE has blood on their hands. I don't think you get that....
