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Ever since 4 July 1777 when citizens of Philadelphia celebrated the first anniversary of American independence with a fireworks display, the “rockets’ red glare” has lent a military tinge to this national holiday. But the explosive aspect of the patriots’ resistance was the incendiary propaganda that they spread across the thirteen colonies.
Sam Adams understood the need for a lively barrage of public relations and spin. “We cannot make Events; Our Business is merely to improve them,” he said. Exaggeration was just one of the tricks in the rhetorical arsenal that rebel publicists used to “improve” events. Their satires, lampoons, and exposés amounted to a guerilla war—waged in print—against the Crown.
While Independence Day is about commemorating the “self-evident truths” of the Declaration of Independence, the path toward separation from England relied on a steady stream of lies, rumor, and accusation. As Philip Freneau, the foremost poet-propagandist of the Revolution put it, if an American “prints some lies, his lies excuse” because the important consideration, indeed perhaps the final consideration, was not veracity but the dissemination of inflammatory material.
In place of measured discourse and rational debate, the pyrotechnics of the moment suited “the American crisis”—to invoke the title of Tom Paine’s follow-up to Common Sense—that left little time for polite expression or logical proofs. Propaganda requires speed, not reflection.
Writing became a rushed job. Pamphlets such as Tom Paine’s had an intentionally short fuse. Common Sense says little that’s new about natural rights or government. But what was innovative was the popular rhetorical strategy Paine used to convey those ideas. “As well can the lover forgive the ravisher of his mistress, as the continent forgive the murders of Britain,” he wrote, playing upon the sensational language found in popular seduction novels of the day.
The tenor of patriotic discourse regularly ran toward ribald phrasing. When composing newspaper verses about King George, Freneau took particular delight in rhyming “despot” with “pisspot.” Hardly the lofty stuff associated with reason and powdered wigs, this language better evokes the juvenile humor of The Daily Show.
The skyrockets that will be “bursting in air” this Fourth of July are a vivid reminder of the rhetorical fireworks that galvanized support for the colonists’ bid for independence. The spread of political ideas, whether in a yellowing pamphlet or on Comedy Central, remains a vital part of our national heritage.
With all the ambitious international goals and targets that developing countries have committed to, from poverty reduction to universal education and access to health care, we’ve observed a not uncommon response by the governments: too strong a focus on the public image of the new programs, not strong enough a focus on making the programs truly accessible. Here’s an example to illustrate our point: On a daily basis, Mexicans are exposed to immeasurable social development propaganda from government agencies. The propaganda is unavoidable because these messages are disseminated via commercials on public transportation, highway billboards, TV and radio, and posters in the most rural communities. Some of the current hot topics of these campaigns are diabetes and childhood obesity, nonviolence toward women and anti-corruption laws.
“Vivir Mejor” (“Live Better”) is the federal government’s umbrella strategy behind many of these flashy ads, and its aim is to eliminate extreme poverty and promote sustainable human development throughout the country. The rainbow-colored logo is impossible to miss and is stamped on nearly everything the government is involved with. “Vivir Mejor” social development campaigns share with the public the services they are entitled to. A man that never got the chance to study when he was young is now completing his secondary education – and you can do the same, for free! A smiling woman is receiving free prenatal health care –and you can sign up for it as well, it’s simple! In addition, many of the “Vivir Mejor” campaigns encourage the public to exercise their rights. This involves procedures like signing up for government health insurance, filing a report in the case of sexual harassment, and requesting information from the government’s transparency portals.
Making people aware of their rights and the social programs they can benefit from is indispensable…in theory. How can these types of public campaigns possibly be inefficient? Why aren’t poor people in Mexico seeking health care or going back to school or reporting abuse of their basic human rights? The first problem is most obvious: there are incredible structural barriers to accessing social services in Mexico; widespread corruption and absurdly bureaucratic procedures prevent Mexicans from registering for social programs or filing reports when their rights are violated.
The second problem is less obvious, but its solution is essential for Mexico to achieve its development objectives: there is a severe lack of civic engagement in Mexico. The lack of participation in pubic affairs that this implies results in the absence of social action and citizen monitoring, as well as the underutilization of government programs. The unengaged citizen lacks psychological preparedness for accessing his or her rights and seeking opportunities for personal development. Some examples of psychosocial barriers to participatory citizenship include the internalization of feelings of inferiority, a lack of intrinsic incentive to bring about change, and insufficient communication and team work skills. All of these factors are directly related to what’s been labeled “low intensity citizenship” in Mexico (Ochoa Espejo).
The solution to the problems we mention lies in the development of an individual’s personal agency. In other words, she needs to feel empowered and entitled to make changes in her life. If social programs were designed to facilitate the acquisition of psychosocial tools like assertive communication, autonomous decision-making, and critical thinking in addition to classic welfare services, citizens would become participatory agents of change. Once engaged, the everyday citizen has an incredible pow
0 Comments on Mexico’s Struggle to “Vivir Mejor” as of 1/1/1900
For the past year Leslie Wilson and I have been having ‘a big conversation.’ Leslie is half English/ half German. I am Anglo/Jewish. We both believe that dialogue is the way to build bridges across divided communities and to promote healing and reconciliation. We regard our deepening friendship as a contribution towards the defeat of Hitler and Nazism. We therefore decided to do a joint blog for Holocaust Memorial Day 2011.
MIRIAM HALAHMY
Memorial to 7000 Jews of the town of Kerch, Crimea, shot in an anti-tank ditch.
As a Jewish child growing up in England after the Holocaust I saw the faces of my grandparents on the victims in the newsreels. However for my friends the victims looked like foreigners, a people far away about whom they knew almost nothing.
The Nazis organised the rounding up and murder of one and a half million Jewish children and I often thought, That could have been me. My family come from Poland, right in the heart of the killing fields.
Memorial in Poland
But the Nazis threatened all children. Every single German child whether their background was Christian, Jewish, Moslem, Black, gay, gipsy or political was at risk. Kitty Hart who survived Auschwitz and a death march says, “We believe it can happen to anyone, anywhere, anytime.” She has given her testimony since 1946 and has even taken neo-Nazis back to Auschwitz.
Thank you both for these thoughtful posts. "What if - what if it was me?" I think you're right, we need to consider ourselves and our culture in the light of both sides of that question.
What if I was one of the victims, and nobody helped me?
What if I was too afraid to help, and so ended up complicit - guilty?
... there's a third question too, of course: "What if I was one of the haters? The would-be perpetrators?"
Though I don't believe anybody reading this blog would BE one such, we have certainly all met them. Even when the people in question seem too ignorant or too wildly remote from our ways of thinking to engage with, they do need to be challenged.
I'm not sure about the complicit-guilty if you are too afraid to help. But if you go out of your way to betray, that is the unforgiveable, I think. Anne Frank and her family should have survived. They were betrayed. And what for? An extra sausage?
These are both very interesting posts about a subject that continues to perplex and haunt us. We need to understand what goes wrong with the human mind to have permitted such atrocities on so mass a scale. I think making small steps by recognizing our responsibilities to each other every day in our own communities – not ignoring the bad things we see, however minor – is one way to stay diligent.
From: To: "miriam" Sent: Thursday, January 27, 2011 1:12 PM Subject: Re: HMD 2011 from Miriam
> Hi Miriam, > I've just read your and Leslie's blog, and this comment rightfully belongs there, but the last > comment I posted ages ago didn't work, so I didn't. > > There are two grandmothers in this family. I am one, and Liesl, over a decade older, is the > other. Liesl is German-Jewish, and a Kindertransport child. She will be speaking on several > Cornish radio stations today (my daughter, son-in-law and three grandchildren live in > Cornwall). She also visits Cornish schools. Liesl's whole family - mother, father, siblings and > grandparents, were murdered in the Holocaust. > > Although it's not often a topic of conversation, little details sometimes emerge... how, at the > age of ten, she was a promising young skater, and how, one day, her coach had to tell her > that he wasn't allowed to teach her any more. And after she'd settled in a school in England > at the age of fifteen, she kept writing to her mum, and how precious her mum's replies were > to her, until one day they stopped for ever. Little things - like one of her teachers daring to > say, one day, that her family was as good as anyone else's (did he learn to keep his mouth > shut? or did he share the same fate as so many good people). And she's still proud of being > German, likes using the language, loves the literature... > > No, never, never again. > > I just needed to say that, and do feel free to use it if you want to. > > love, Enid xxx
I'm glad - it makes me cry, actually - that there are people who were born Jewish Germans, unjustly expelled from their homelands and suffering the murder of their loved ones, who can still treasure the culture of Germany - to which, incidentally, her Jews made such an enormous and valuable contribution. Literature, science, music,philosophy, drama - if you go to the Jewish Museum in Berlin, you can see some of that history. Moses Mendelssohn and Mendelssohn the composer, Heinrich Heine, Jakob Wassermann, Elisabeth Bergner, Einstein,, that's just a few, for starters.
Thank you, to both of you, for a very moving post. Like Miriam, I have been brought up with a constant awareness of the terrible things that happened. As a youngster I knew a number of concentration camp survivors and still feel sick with the memory of their accounts.
But how can we grandly say, 'Never Again' when it's still happening to different cultures and different religious groups? It might be called something different, ethnic cleansing, but it's still the murder of human beings.
If only we could care enough about each other for all this killing to stop.
From: Denise De Rome To: miriam Sent: Saturday, January 29, 2011 7:18 PM Subject: Re: SORRY .... HMD 2011 from Miriam
Hi Miriam Great blog! Yes, amongst many bits, I love the bit when Leslie says ' Fiction can make us feel what it was like to be there, making frightening decisions; to imagine what it’s like to have the Gestapo in your house ...... ' In fact I love it all. Intended to bring my French grandfather's extraordinary illustrated certificate for some act of bravery in 1917. ... he was later in WW2 resistance, so I've often thought about what it was like to have the Gestapo swarming around. .....
Kids, learn your math and you too can defeat the imperialist United States of America! That seems to be the message behind this 1950s-era North Korean propaganda cartoon which recently surfaced on You Tube. Say what you will about the message, the animation is pretty good.
Susan A. Brewer is Professor of History at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point. Her new book, Why America Fights: Patriotism and War Propaganda from the Philippines to Iraq, is a fascinating history of how successive presidents have conducted what Donald Rumsfeld called “perception management”. In the original post below she looks at the top ten American propaganda messages of the last century.
Propaganda sells wars. Emotionally powerful and instantly recognizable, propaganda messages serve to simplify complex international crises for public consumption. A persuasive blend of fact and fiction, they resonate with what Americans want to believe about themselves. Here are the top ten messages used by the U.S. government over the past century to rally public support for war.
10. WE FIGHT TO STOP ANOTHER HITLER. There was only one Hitler, but he
lives on in wartime propaganda since World War II.
9. WE FIGHT OVER THERE SO WE DON’T HAVE TO FIGHT HERE. In this message, America typically is portrayed as a pastoral land of small towns, not as an urban, industrialized superpower.
8. WE FIGHT CLEAN WARS WITH SUPERIOR TECHNOLOGY. This message suggests that U.S. troops will not be in much danger, nor will innocent civilians be killed in what is projected to be a quick and decisive conflict.
7. WE FIGHT TO PROTECT WOMEN AND CHILDREN. A traditional theme of war propaganda since ancient times, it is accompanied by compelling visuals and heartrending stories.
6. WE FIGHT BRUTISH, FANATICAL ENEMIES. Another classic, it dehumanizes enemy fighters.
5. WE FIGHT TO UNITE THE NATION. Here war is shown to heal old wounds and unify the divisions caused by the Civil War, class conflict, racial and ethnic differences, or past failures such as the Vietnam War.
4. WE FIGHT FOR THE FLAG AND THE REPUBLIC FOR WHICH IT STANDS. The trend has been to emphasize the flag over the republic. The more flags on display, the less likely the people’s elected representatives will debate foreign policy or exercise their power to declare war.
3. WE FIGHT TO LIBERATE THE OPPRESSED. When the oppressed resist U.S. help, they appear ungrateful and in need of American guidance especially if they have valuable resources.
2. WE FIGHT TO MAKE THE WORLD A BETTER PLACE. During the Philippine War, for example, this message advised that Uncle Sam knew what was best for the little brown brothers.
1. WE FIGHT TO PROTECT THE AMERICAN WAY OF LIFE. Although the American way of life stands for peace, it requires a lot of fighting.
0 Comments on American War Propaganda Top Ten as of 6/30/2009 11:53:00 AM
Do you really look like that Michelle? Your character always reminds me of the comic strip Nancy, but without the spikey hair. :)
Michelle Lana said, on 6/30/2007 5:20:00 AM
Hahaha...Hi JIm...Oh, ya, you're right! Yes, I really look like that, my hair looks the same, kinda like Nancy's but with no spikey. :) My friends always tell me in person that I look like a cartoon character :) So, I thought I should take that as a compliment I guess... :)
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Thank you both for these thoughtful posts. "What if - what if it was me?" I think you're right, we need to consider ourselves and our culture in the light of both sides of that question.
What if I was one of the victims, and nobody helped me?
What if I was too afraid to help, and so ended up complicit - guilty?
... there's a third question too, of course: "What if I was one of the haters? The would-be perpetrators?"
Though I don't believe anybody reading this blog would BE one such, we have certainly all met them. Even when the people in question seem too ignorant or too wildly remote from our ways of thinking to engage with, they do need to be challenged.
I'm not sure about the complicit-guilty if you are too afraid to help. But if you go out of your way to betray, that is the unforgiveable, I think. Anne Frank and her family should have survived. They were betrayed. And what for? An extra sausage?
These are both very interesting posts about a subject that continues to perplex and haunt us. We need to understand what goes wrong with the human mind to have permitted such atrocities on so mass a scale. I think making small steps by recognizing our responsibilities to each other every day in our own communities – not ignoring the bad things we see, however minor – is one way to stay diligent.
From:
To: "miriam"
Sent: Thursday, January 27, 2011 1:12 PM
Subject: Re: HMD 2011 from Miriam
> Hi Miriam,
> I've just read your and Leslie's blog, and this comment rightfully belongs there, but the last
> comment I posted ages ago didn't work, so I didn't.
>
> There are two grandmothers in this family. I am one, and Liesl, over a decade older, is the
> other. Liesl is German-Jewish, and a Kindertransport child. She will be speaking on several
> Cornish radio stations today (my daughter, son-in-law and three grandchildren live in
> Cornwall). She also visits Cornish schools. Liesl's whole family - mother, father, siblings and
> grandparents, were murdered in the Holocaust.
>
> Although it's not often a topic of conversation, little details sometimes emerge... how, at the
> age of ten, she was a promising young skater, and how, one day, her coach had to tell her
> that he wasn't allowed to teach her any more. And after she'd settled in a school in England
> at the age of fifteen, she kept writing to her mum, and how precious her mum's replies were
> to her, until one day they stopped for ever. Little things - like one of her teachers daring to
> say, one day, that her family was as good as anyone else's (did he learn to keep his mouth
> shut? or did he share the same fate as so many good people). And she's still proud of being
> German, likes using the language, loves the literature...
>
> No, never, never again.
>
> I just needed to say that, and do feel free to use it if you want to.
>
> love, Enid xxx
I'm glad - it makes me cry, actually - that there are people who were born Jewish Germans, unjustly expelled from their homelands and suffering the murder of their loved ones, who can still treasure the culture of Germany - to which, incidentally, her Jews made such an enormous and valuable contribution. Literature, science, music,philosophy, drama - if you go to the Jewish Museum in Berlin, you can see some of that history. Moses Mendelssohn and Mendelssohn the composer, Heinrich Heine, Jakob Wassermann, Elisabeth Bergner, Einstein,, that's just a few, for starters.
Thank you, to both of you, for a very moving post. Like Miriam, I have been brought up with a constant awareness of the terrible things that happened. As a youngster I knew a number of concentration camp survivors and still feel sick with the memory of their accounts.
But how can we grandly say, 'Never Again' when it's still happening to different cultures and different religious groups? It might be called something different, ethnic cleansing, but it's still the murder of human beings.
If only we could care enough about each other for all this killing to stop.
Thank you, Leslie and Mariam for a wonderful, thought-provoking post.
From: Denise De Rome
To: miriam
Sent: Saturday, January 29, 2011 7:18 PM
Subject: Re: SORRY .... HMD 2011 from Miriam
Hi Miriam
Great blog! Yes, amongst many bits, I love the bit when Leslie says ' Fiction can make us feel what it was like to be there, making frightening decisions; to imagine what it’s like to have the Gestapo in your house ...... '
In fact I love it all.
Intended to bring my French grandfather's extraordinary illustrated certificate for some act of bravery in 1917. ... he was later in WW2 resistance, so I've often thought about what it was like to have the Gestapo swarming around. .....
All the best
Denise