A History of Propaganda
What makes something true? A philosopher would tell you that truth is only true to the self; an engineer would point to his rendering analysis in AutoCAD; and a statistician would perform a factor analysis to assess validity. But to a politician, truth is what can be said the loudest, again and again. Propaganda has been used since medieval times to influence the population en masse. The earliest known example of propaganda is the Behistun Inscription in Iran, which describes Darius I rising to the Persian throne as a just and rightful ruler of the Persian Empire. There are three written languages upon the rockface, which wrap around the image of Darius with his predecessor under his boot, about 15 meters high and 25 meters across. Three languages to spread his message of domination to the swath of culture under the wide breadth of the Persian Empire. Using the rock face sought permanence, in line with the goal of all good propaganda: convince the current population and influence future culture. His line would reign for the next hundred years until the fall of the Achaemenid Empire.
As the Cold War was peaking, following the formation of NATO and the creation of the Soviet atomic bomb, propaganda was streaming at an all-time high. A culture-charged battle of ideals was being waged covertly and officially, the CIA quietly having instituted a dedicated bureau called the Congress of Cultural Freedom (CCF) in 1950. This was a direct response to Russia’s own information bureau, called the Cominform. The CCF pushed American culture out and up, funding art exhibits, international conferences, and jazz ambassadors such as Louis Armstrong. These were created with the intention of influencing international cultural change to instil a sense of superiority in the capitalist view. Cominform pushed their side but had a different approach. Russia tended to condemn and censor rather than convince outsiders of their virtues. Imported propaganda during the Cold War was highly focused on criticizing the racial prejudice shown in the US. This proved effective, as the general attitude in a letter from Mohandas Gandhi to President Roosevelt carried this same criticism. Criticism propaganda wasn’t a single concerted effort, but rather a deluge of disinformation, sometimes leaning towards the absurd.
This type of propaganda is referred to as a “firehose of falsehood.” Creating large amounts of misinformation forces a binary opinion: belief or disbelief, and a binary always creates division. Overwhelming claims force people to disprove and deny each one, which doesn’t affect the claimer since they never intended to back them up. Putting the opposition in a position where they need to prove you wrong again and again actually provides a lot of power, despite how outlandish or nonsensical the claims are. It’s also the same kind found in Hitler’s Nazi Germany.
A major factor leading to the effectiveness of Nazi propaganda was the ability to mould the perspective of the country’s youth. This was done through creating programs such as the Hitler Youth, renaming and creating a lore of exceptionalism special to Germany, and keeping a grasp over art and creative culture. By remaining at the centre of the narrative, you control it; people don’t have a choice but to hear what you have to say. If this is ringing any bells, it should, as it’s the same as what has been happening to America since Trump’s first election.
Shortly after his reelection, Trump blitzed several reforms faster than any president before him. He would go on to sue various “fake news” outlets and rename the Gulf of Mexico the Gulf of America. George Orwell’s 1984 doesn’t seem so far-fetched, with “newspeak” and the subjugation of the media happening in real time. It’s no coincidence that Trump-positive press (Washington Post, X, Facebook) would receive front row seats at his inauguration, either. His authoritarian streak doesn’t seem to be abating. Georgian representative Buddy Carter introduced a bill recently to rename Greenland to “Red, White, and Blueland” indicating serious intentions to take hold of the island. Over the top, ridiculous, a firehose of falsehood.