Topic 36C (C): Group Think
The final installment of Hell Week has commenced... Here is my third of six entries to round things out... May the Idol gods be kind and generous.
Hey, did you hear that Muslims teach their kids how to slaughter Americans in their schools? It’s true, it says so in the Koran.
Hey, did you hear that poor people choose to be poor but are secretly living an amazing life with their flat screen televisions, iPhones, Playstations and twenty-six room mansions?
Hey, did you hear that illegal Mexican immigrants only come here to rob and kill people, steal your wife and take your job?
Hey, did you hear that Obama had a secret room built in the White House where he prays to dark, Pagan gods while eating the flesh of babies and sodomizing a 3-Toed Tree Sloth?
I read it on the internet, so it has to be true, right?
I’d love to say George Orwell had it all right on the money but I don’t even think he realized just how crazy and out of control people would get with the whole newspeak, doublespeak and doublethink thing. I’m quite certain he’s currently rolling over in his grave, giving a mighty facepalm and shouting “WTF! Seriously, people?” from where ever he resides in the cosmos.
It’s easy to do. We’ve all done it. We’ve read something on the internet, gotten our knickers in a twist as a result and stormed off all half-cocked, ready to kick some ass with a million other outraged Keyboard Commandos.
Only to have what we’d read turn out to be oh-so-wrong. Oops.
Just this week, I saw my step-father post something inflammatory on Facebook that instinctively, I knew was a load of horsecrap right-wing propaganda which claimed that President Obama was suing to prevent the military service members from voting in Ohio. It took me all of about three minutes to find the sources that absolutely debunked said horsecrap right-wing propaganda and another three to post the information to my Facebook wall where my idiot-stepfather would be sure to see it along with a… sharply worded message. Ahem. So seeing that the propaganda had already hit Facebook, I was completely unsurprised to come into work the next day to find the right-wingers I work with spouting the exact, same, bullcrap line of propaganda.
Such is the age of the internets… where facts and knowledge are plentiful but too many reach for the low-hanging fruit of lies and purposeful misinformation.
It’s frustrating seeing people locked in to this mindset where the only information we take in comes in the form of twenty-second sound bites. The people who shape the messages that drive an agenda know this. And it’s a tactic they’ve learned to exploit.
Those who drive an agenda have also mastered yet another art of propaganda and misinformation that is as foul as it is insidious. See how this grabs you…
… when one lies, one should lie big, and stick to it. They keep up their lies, even at the risk of looking ridiculous.
Does that sound familiar? Whether it’s calling for President Obama’s birth certificate or insisting that he’s a Muslim, conservative talk show hosts like Rush and Hannity, douchebags like Ted Nugent and Donald Trump, sitting members of Congress are, knowingly or not, employing a tactic made famous by the Nazis.
The above quote came from the mouth of one Joseph Goebbels… Nazi Minister of Propaganda.
And no, I’m not *calling* anybody a Nazi… there is a difference between calling somebody a Nazi and illustrating that they are using Nazi propaganda tactics. But think about it for a minute… how many people do you know who think that President Obama is A) not a legal citizen B) a secret Muslim or C) a Socialist/Communist who wants to destroy America? One maybe? Two? Three?
Scarily enough, there are millions of people who have and continue to buy into the Big Lies being carelessly thrown around the political landscape today.
And all of it is aimed at controlling the message in the hopes that they will control our minds which will lead them to controlling our votes… with the ultimate goal of accumulating wealth and power.
Is the GOP alone in this? Of course not. Just the other day, Harry Reid got loose and made a comment that made him a “hero” among some of the liberal circles… it was his statement about Mitt Romney not paying taxes for ten years. I personally think Senator Reid was an idiot for playing that card. It was a baseless allegation aimed at getting Mitt Romney to release his tax records. It was a political stunt and an effort to use a propaganda technique to achieve a desired result. But it was bush league. Plain and simple.
Ultimately, we are going to vote based on our values and our morals. We’re going to vote for who and what we think are right. The problem is, with so much mud being thrown about, with so many lies, manipulations and distortions in the mix, how are we supposed to know who or what is right?
The answer to that question, my friends, is… Think about it for yourselves. Educate yourselves. Form your own opinions. Don’t rely on sound bites from grandstanding and posturing politicians or TV and radio personalities. Roll up your sleeves, get your hands dirty and do some work.
That is the only way to break out of the herd, folks. Don’t let them lead you or this country to the slaughterhouse because we were too busy or it was too hard to look things up or politics is just tedious and boring.
We can shape the future of this country. We can decide how we want it to be. But it’s going to take some solid, independent thought and research on our parts. Otherwise, we may as well just put the blinders on and wait for that big axe to come crashing down on our necks.
Use your minds. Think for yourselves!
The choice is yours, my friends.
This has been my entry for therealljidol Season 8, Topic 36C(C): Group Think. As always, thank you so much for your continued support. I have no clue what sort of madness to expect but it should be interesting. Thank you, guys. You keeping me in this game means the world to me!
Hey, did you hear that Muslims teach their kids how to slaughter Americans in their schools? It’s true, it says so in the Koran.
Hey, did you hear that poor people choose to be poor but are secretly living an amazing life with their flat screen televisions, iPhones, Playstations and twenty-six room mansions?
Hey, did you hear that illegal Mexican immigrants only come here to rob and kill people, steal your wife and take your job?
Hey, did you hear that Obama had a secret room built in the White House where he prays to dark, Pagan gods while eating the flesh of babies and sodomizing a 3-Toed Tree Sloth?
I read it on the internet, so it has to be true, right?
I’d love to say George Orwell had it all right on the money but I don’t even think he realized just how crazy and out of control people would get with the whole newspeak, doublespeak and doublethink thing. I’m quite certain he’s currently rolling over in his grave, giving a mighty facepalm and shouting “WTF! Seriously, people?” from where ever he resides in the cosmos.
It’s easy to do. We’ve all done it. We’ve read something on the internet, gotten our knickers in a twist as a result and stormed off all half-cocked, ready to kick some ass with a million other outraged Keyboard Commandos.
Only to have what we’d read turn out to be oh-so-wrong. Oops.
Just this week, I saw my step-father post something inflammatory on Facebook that instinctively, I knew was a load of horsecrap right-wing propaganda which claimed that President Obama was suing to prevent the military service members from voting in Ohio. It took me all of about three minutes to find the sources that absolutely debunked said horsecrap right-wing propaganda and another three to post the information to my Facebook wall where my idiot-stepfather would be sure to see it along with a… sharply worded message. Ahem. So seeing that the propaganda had already hit Facebook, I was completely unsurprised to come into work the next day to find the right-wingers I work with spouting the exact, same, bullcrap line of propaganda.
Such is the age of the internets… where facts and knowledge are plentiful but too many reach for the low-hanging fruit of lies and purposeful misinformation.
It’s frustrating seeing people locked in to this mindset where the only information we take in comes in the form of twenty-second sound bites. The people who shape the messages that drive an agenda know this. And it’s a tactic they’ve learned to exploit.
Those who drive an agenda have also mastered yet another art of propaganda and misinformation that is as foul as it is insidious. See how this grabs you…
… when one lies, one should lie big, and stick to it. They keep up their lies, even at the risk of looking ridiculous.
Does that sound familiar? Whether it’s calling for President Obama’s birth certificate or insisting that he’s a Muslim, conservative talk show hosts like Rush and Hannity, douchebags like Ted Nugent and Donald Trump, sitting members of Congress are, knowingly or not, employing a tactic made famous by the Nazis.
The above quote came from the mouth of one Joseph Goebbels… Nazi Minister of Propaganda.
And no, I’m not *calling* anybody a Nazi… there is a difference between calling somebody a Nazi and illustrating that they are using Nazi propaganda tactics. But think about it for a minute… how many people do you know who think that President Obama is A) not a legal citizen B) a secret Muslim or C) a Socialist/Communist who wants to destroy America? One maybe? Two? Three?
Scarily enough, there are millions of people who have and continue to buy into the Big Lies being carelessly thrown around the political landscape today.
And all of it is aimed at controlling the message in the hopes that they will control our minds which will lead them to controlling our votes… with the ultimate goal of accumulating wealth and power.
Is the GOP alone in this? Of course not. Just the other day, Harry Reid got loose and made a comment that made him a “hero” among some of the liberal circles… it was his statement about Mitt Romney not paying taxes for ten years. I personally think Senator Reid was an idiot for playing that card. It was a baseless allegation aimed at getting Mitt Romney to release his tax records. It was a political stunt and an effort to use a propaganda technique to achieve a desired result. But it was bush league. Plain and simple.
Ultimately, we are going to vote based on our values and our morals. We’re going to vote for who and what we think are right. The problem is, with so much mud being thrown about, with so many lies, manipulations and distortions in the mix, how are we supposed to know who or what is right?
The answer to that question, my friends, is… Think about it for yourselves. Educate yourselves. Form your own opinions. Don’t rely on sound bites from grandstanding and posturing politicians or TV and radio personalities. Roll up your sleeves, get your hands dirty and do some work.
That is the only way to break out of the herd, folks. Don’t let them lead you or this country to the slaughterhouse because we were too busy or it was too hard to look things up or politics is just tedious and boring.
We can shape the future of this country. We can decide how we want it to be. But it’s going to take some solid, independent thought and research on our parts. Otherwise, we may as well just put the blinders on and wait for that big axe to come crashing down on our necks.
Use your minds. Think for yourselves!
The choice is yours, my friends.
This has been my entry for therealljidol Season 8, Topic 36C(C): Group Think. As always, thank you so much for your continued support. I have no clue what sort of madness to expect but it should be interesting. Thank you, guys. You keeping me in this game means the world to me!