The conservative propaganda machine

[GrGr]

Framing the issues: UC Berkeley professor George Lakoff tells how conservatives use language to dominate politics

Excerpt:

...

Why do conservatives appear to be so much better at framing?

Because they've put billions of dollars into it. Over the last 30 years their think tanks have made a heavy investment in ideas and in language. In 1970, [Supreme Court Justice] Lewis Powell wrote a fateful memo to the National Chamber of Commerce saying that all of our best students are becoming anti-business because of the Vietnam War, and that we needed to do something about it. Powell's agenda included getting wealthy conservatives to set up professorships, setting up institutes on and off campus where intellectuals would write books from a conservative business perspective, and setting up think tanks. He outlined the whole thing in 1970. They set up the Heritage Foundation in 1973, and the Manhattan Institute after that. [There are many others, including the American Enterprise Institute and the Hoover Institute at Stanford, which date from the 1940s.]

And now, as the New York Times Magazine quoted Paul Weyrich, who started the Heritage Foundation, they have 1,500 conservative radio talk show hosts. They have a huge, very good operation, and they understand their own moral system. They understand what unites conservatives, and they understand how to talk about it, and they are constantly updating their research on how best to express their ideas.

etc.

...

 

[AntaresVI]

I don't see what's wrong with this. If the liberals got on their horse, they could do it too.

 

[GrGr]

It isn't necessarily wrong. But it is interesting to see how completely the conservatives have dominated this aspect of politics so far and how well this strategy has worked for them. I wonder how many conservative soundbites and myths have been promoted by this system over the years. Myths like "the liberal media" etc. surely have their roots here. And we probably have this system to thank for the Limbaughs and Hannitys as well.

 

[Moonbeam]

Mites in a cheese organize to eat the cheese. Of course eventually the cheese collapses and the mite civilization dies. The conservative is bout MEMEMEMEMEMEMEMEME

 

[XZeroII]

What is your point? Are you saying that it is wrong for people to group together to achieve a goal? It sounds like you are trying to put a liberal spin on this to make it look like conservatives are evil simply because they are smart enough to work together. I am also sure that liberals have the exact same thing going on, but I bet this guy will avoid talking about that like the plague.

 

[Format C:]

"Berkeley" ....No further comment necessary.

 

[Zebo]

Originally posted by: Format C:
"Berkeley" ....No further comment necessary.

Ya you need higher than a 2.5 GPA to attend which keeps most conservatives away.

 

[alchemize]

The leftists have hollywood and universities to counteract this. And still they can't get 51%

 

[Red Dawn]

The Conservatives are just smarter than the Liberals when it comes to Propaganda. Maybe they've learned to channel their rage better!

 

[Zebo]

Their whole message appeals to vanity vs. collectivism and inclusion which is harder to get behind with strangers. They have an easier go of it.

 

[Orsorum]

Originally posted by: Format C:
"Berkeley" ....No further comment necessary.

Why?

 

[Steeplerot]

Becasue the clueless like to dis Cali.

 

[Red Dawn]

Originally posted by: steeplerot
Becasue the clueless like to dis Cali.

Dissing Bezerkly isn't dissing Cali. In facr most Californians dis Bezerkly themselves. It's known as the "Peoples Republic of Bezerkly" to most Californians

 

[Bowfinger]

Originally posted by: Orsorum

Originally posted by: Format C:
"Berkeley" ....No further comment necessary.

Why?

Because attacking the source is so much easier than addressing the issues. It's better to bury one's head in the dirt and chant, "BAA BAA BAA" than to be exposed to contrary ideas that might make one think. Pass the Kool-Aid, Format C:'s faith is shaky.

 

[Jhhnn]

Attacking Lakoff on the basis of his tenure at Berkeley is an excellent example of just how this propaganda machine works. Don't bother with what he has to say, worry about where he works. Play on existing belief and prejudice, even folklore and urban myth, provide an irrational emotional component to any argument as a way to predispose the audience to take your side.

It's a way to make any question or issue a loaded question, and is often successful at concealing the added psychological component of the message. It is a linguistic artform, often losing its impact when carried to a different language or culture. Koranic verse still overwhelms the intellect of even highly educated speakers of Arabic, but often falls flat in translation. Hitler's speeches rendered an entire generation of Germans into drooling idiots, but was obvious drivel to their French and English neighbors. It's all about cultural and linguistic context, and playing on the underlying irrationality of belief. People have certain prejudices and beliefs, playing on them w/o the subjects realizing it is key to any propaganda campaign.

So we get phraseology designed to obfuscate the underlying intent and simultaneously smear any opposition with an argument not even presented.

"No child left behind"

"Clear skies initiative"

"Healthy forest program"

"Tax relief program"

"Homeland security"

"Patriot Act"

It even extends into the realm of the oxymoronic-

"War on terror"

"Death tax"

What's in a name? In this context, everything. These guys could sell road apples as candy and strychnine as rapture if they could just find the right name for it...

 

[Moonbeam]

Originally posted by: Jhhnn
Attacking Lakoff on the basis of his tenure at Berkeley is an excellent example of just how this propaganda machine works. Don't bother with what he has to say, worry about where he works. Play on existing belief and prejudice, even folklore and urban myth, provide an irrational emotional component to any argument as a way to predispose the audience to take your side.

It's a way to make any question or issue a loaded question, and is often successful at concealing the added psychological component of the message. It is a linguistic artform, often losing its impact when carried to a different language or culture. Koranic verse still overwhelms the intellect of even highly educated speakers of Arabic, but often falls flat in translation. Hitler's speeches rendered an entire generation of Germans into drooling idiots, but was obvious drivel to their French and English neighbors. It's all about cultural and linguistic context, and playing on the underlying irrationality of belief. People have certain prejudices and beliefs, playing on them w/o the subjects realizing it is key to any propaganda campaign.

So we get phraseology designed to obfuscate the underlying intent and simultaneously smear any opposition with an argument not even presented.

"No child left behind"

"Clear skies initiative"

"Healthy forest program"

"Tax relief program"

"Homeland security"

"Patriot Act"

It even extends into the realm of the oxymoronic-

"War on terror"

"Death tax"

What's in a name? In this context, everything. These guys could sell road apples as candy and strychnine as rapture if they could just find the right name for it...

There is something radically wrong with you, Jhhnn. Your programming doesn't seem to have taken. Have you ever been tested to see if you can be hypnotized. I suspect you cannot. Anyway, you are definitely an odd ball and must surely realize the danger of that. Watch out that they don't put you away. And don't stray too far from the mother ship.

I have a question regarding propaganda I'd like to ask you. Are not the techniques used to sell product the same as those used to sell ideology, and if, somehow, people generally were able to see what's going on as you seem to, what would happen to sales? Would our economy collapse and create a disaster because people couldn't be manipulated to consume what they really have no need for at all? It often seems to me that one of the major reasons we don't teach people how to spot and inoculate themselves against propaganda despite the tremendous dangers it presents, is because it would also ruin the capacity of advertisers to create a false sense of need with untoward consequence to the capitalist system. Capitalism is all well and good till there becomes a profit to be made in running people off a cliff.

 

[Zebo]

Originally posted by: Jhhnn
Attacking Lakoff on the basis of his tenure at Berkeley is an excellent example of just how this propaganda machine works. Don't bother with what he has to say, worry about where he works. Play on existing belief and prejudice, even folklore and urban myth, provide an irrational emotional component to any argument as a way to predispose the audience to take your side.

It's a way to make any question or issue a loaded question, and is often successful at concealing the added psychological component of the message. It is a linguistic artform, often losing its impact when carried to a different language or culture. Koranic verse still overwhelms the intellect of even highly educated speakers of Arabic, but often falls flat in translation. Hitler's speeches rendered an entire generation of Germans into drooling idiots, but was obvious drivel to their French and English neighbors. It's all about cultural and linguistic context, and playing on the underlying irrationality of belief. People have certain prejudices and beliefs, playing on them w/o the subjects realizing it is key to any propaganda campaign.

So we get phraseology designed to obfuscate the underlying intent and simultaneously smear any opposition with an argument not even presented.

"No child left behind"

"Clear skies initiative"

"Healthy forest program"

"Tax relief program"

"Homeland security"

"Patriot Act"

It even extends into the realm of the oxymoronic-

"War on terror"

"Death tax"

What's in a name? In this context, everything. These guys could sell road apples as candy and strychnine as rapture if they could just find the right name for it...

You have a fine ear my friend.

 

[GrGr]

Originally posted by: Jhhnn
Attacking Lakoff on the basis of his tenure at Berkeley is an excellent example of just how this propaganda machine works. Don't bother with what he has to say, worry about where he works. Play on existing belief and prejudice, even folklore and urban myth, provide an irrational emotional component to any argument as a way to predispose the audience to take your side.

It's a way to make any question or issue a loaded question, and is often successful at concealing the added psychological component of the message. It is a linguistic artform, often losing its impact when carried to a different language or culture. Koranic verse still overwhelms the intellect of even highly educated speakers of Arabic, but often falls flat in translation. Hitler's speeches rendered an entire generation of Germans into drooling idiots, but was obvious drivel to their French and English neighbors. It's all about cultural and linguistic context, and playing on the underlying irrationality of belief. People have certain prejudices and beliefs, playing on them w/o the subjects realizing it is key to any propaganda campaign.

So we get phraseology designed to obfuscate the underlying intent and simultaneously smear any opposition with an argument not even presented.

"No child left behind"

"Clear skies initiative"

"Healthy forest program"

"Tax relief program"

"Homeland security"

"Patriot Act"

It even extends into the realm of the oxymoronic-

"War on terror"

"Death tax"

What's in a name? In this context, everything. These guys could sell road apples as candy and strychnine as rapture if they could just find the right name for it...

I think they are indeed selling "strychnine" as "rapture". Excellent post Jhhnn, as usual.

 

[leeboy]

Originally posted by: Jhhnn
Attacking Lakoff on the basis of his tenure at Berkeley is an excellent example of just how this propaganda machine works. Don't bother with what he has to say, worry about where he works. Play on existing belief and prejudice, even folklore and urban myth, provide an irrational emotional component to any argument as a way to predispose the audience to take your side.

It's a way to make any question or issue a loaded question, and is often successful at concealing the added psychological component of the message. It is a linguistic artform, often losing its impact when carried to a different language or culture. Koranic verse still overwhelms the intellect of even highly educated speakers of Arabic, but often falls flat in translation. Hitler's speeches rendered an entire generation of Germans into drooling idiots, but was obvious drivel to their French and English neighbors. It's all about cultural and linguistic context, and playing on the underlying irrationality of belief. People have certain prejudices and beliefs, playing on them w/o the subjects realizing it is key to any propaganda campaign.

So we get phraseology designed to obfuscate the underlying intent and simultaneously smear any opposition with an argument not even presented.

"No child left behind"

"Clear skies initiative"

"Healthy forest program"

"Tax relief program"

"Homeland security"

"Patriot Act"

It even extends into the realm of the oxymoronic-

"War on terror"

"Death tax"

What's in a name? In this context, everything. These guys could sell road apples as candy and strychnine as rapture if they could just find the right name for it...

Well put. Jhhnn HAS strayed too far from the mothership, time for the conservative death star to pull him back with their tractor beam.

 

[Orsorum]

Originally posted by: Moonbeam

Originally posted by: Jhhnn
Attacking Lakoff on the basis of his tenure at Berkeley is an excellent example of just how this propaganda machine works. Don't bother with what he has to say, worry about where he works. Play on existing belief and prejudice, even folklore and urban myth, provide an irrational emotional component to any argument as a way to predispose the audience to take your side.

It's a way to make any question or issue a loaded question, and is often successful at concealing the added psychological component of the message. It is a linguistic artform, often losing its impact when carried to a different language or culture. Koranic verse still overwhelms the intellect of even highly educated speakers of Arabic, but often falls flat in translation. Hitler's speeches rendered an entire generation of Germans into drooling idiots, but was obvious drivel to their French and English neighbors. It's all about cultural and linguistic context, and playing on the underlying irrationality of belief. People have certain prejudices and beliefs, playing on them w/o the subjects realizing it is key to any propaganda campaign.

So we get phraseology designed to obfuscate the underlying intent and simultaneously smear any opposition with an argument not even presented.

"No child left behind"

"Clear skies initiative"

"Healthy forest program"

"Tax relief program"

"Homeland security"

"Patriot Act"

It even extends into the realm of the oxymoronic-

"War on terror"

"Death tax"

What's in a name? In this context, everything. These guys could sell road apples as candy and strychnine as rapture if they could just find the right name for it...

There is something radically wrong with you, Jhhnn. Your programming doesn't seem to have taken. Have you ever been tested to see if you can be hypnotized. I suspect you cannot. Anyway, you are definitely an odd ball and must surely realize the danger of that. Watch out that they don't put you away. And don't stray too far from the mother ship.

I have a question regarding propaganda I'd like to ask you. Are not the techniques used to sell product the same as those used to sell ideology, and if, somehow, people generally were able to see what's going on as you seem to, what would happen to sales? Would our economy collapse and create a disaster because people couldn't be manipulated to consume what they really have no need for at all? It often seems to me that one of the major reasons we don't teach people how to spot and inoculate themselves against propaganda despite the tremendous dangers it presents, is because it would also ruin the capacity of advertisers to create a false sense of need with untoward consequence to the capitalist system. Capitalism is all well and good till there becomes a profit to be made in running people off a cliff.

These two posts are quite possible the best material I've read in months. Kudos to both of you and your intelligence and self-awareness.

Cheers!
Nate

 

[Bowfinger]

Originally posted by: Orsorum

Originally posted by: Moonbeam

Originally posted by: Jhhnn
Attacking Lakoff on the basis of his tenure at Berkeley is an excellent example of just how this propaganda machine works. Don't bother with what he has to say, worry about where he works. Play on existing belief and prejudice, even folklore and urban myth, provide an irrational emotional component to any argument as a way to predispose the audience to take your side.

It's a way to make any question or issue a loaded question, and is often successful at concealing the added psychological component of the message. It is a linguistic artform, often losing its impact when carried to a different language or culture. Koranic verse still overwhelms the intellect of even highly educated speakers of Arabic, but often falls flat in translation. Hitler's speeches rendered an entire generation of Germans into drooling idiots, but was obvious drivel to their French and English neighbors. It's all about cultural and linguistic context, and playing on the underlying irrationality of belief. People have certain prejudices and beliefs, playing on them w/o the subjects realizing it is key to any propaganda campaign.

So we get phraseology designed to obfuscate the underlying intent and simultaneously smear any opposition with an argument not even presented.

"No child left behind"

"Clear skies initiative"

"Healthy forest program"

"Tax relief program"

"Homeland security"

"Patriot Act"

It even extends into the realm of the oxymoronic-

"War on terror"

"Death tax"

What's in a name? In this context, everything. These guys could sell road apples as candy and strychnine as rapture if they could just find the right name for it...

There is something radically wrong with you, Jhhnn. Your programming doesn't seem to have taken. Have you ever been tested to see if you can be hypnotized. I suspect you cannot. Anyway, you are definitely an odd ball and must surely realize the danger of that. Watch out that they don't put you away. And don't stray too far from the mother ship.

I have a question regarding propaganda I'd like to ask you. Are not the techniques used to sell product the same as those used to sell ideology, and if, somehow, people generally were able to see what's going on as you seem to, what would happen to sales? Would our economy collapse and create a disaster because people couldn't be manipulated to consume what they really have no need for at all? It often seems to me that one of the major reasons we don't teach people how to spot and inoculate themselves against propaganda despite the tremendous dangers it presents, is because it would also ruin the capacity of advertisers to create a false sense of need with untoward consequence to the capitalist system. Capitalism is all well and good till there becomes a profit to be made in running people off a cliff.

These two posts are quite possible the best material I've read in months. Kudos to both of you and your intelligence and self-awareness.

Cheers!
Nate

Ditto (if you'll pardon the expression).

 

[Jhhnn]

Thank you, gentlemen. Occasionally I'm lucky enough for the spirit of the muse to visit, if only briefly.

To answer Moonbeam's questions- No, I don't think I can be hypnotized. I even tried it, once, in an effort to quit smoking, the bane of my existence, the last of my narcotic addictions. I liked the guy, and trusted him, too, but it just wouldn't work.

And, yeh, obviously the techniques used in propaganda and marketing are similar. Whether one drinks pepsi or coke isn't really much of an issue, nor is wranglers vs levi's. At least the competitors actually deliver a product, and it's generally as advertised.

In the realm of political discourse, the stakes are a lot higher. So the loaded messages take on more of a patina of hucksterism and fraud when seen in their true light. What we do today very much shapes the future of our country, and the lives of our descendants. We're fortunate that our predecessors found a way to leave us in a reasonable position, at least prior to the fraud of trickle down economics and the illusion provided by mounting debt.

Having successfully sold that Yugo as a Rolls-Royce, it's not surprising they'd try to engage the buyer again, see what other "deals" he'll buy into...

 

[Drift3r]

Someone please tell The People's Communist Republic of Berkley that their revolution is over and has failed. No one is buying their crap that they have to offer.

 

[LongCoolMother]

Originally posted by: Drift3r
Someone please tell The People's Communist Republic of Berkley that their revolution is over and has failed. No one is buying their crap that they have to offer.

i concur. i gotta tell you. my cousin went to berkeley less than a year ago. i just saw her last week and man, i gotta tell you, berkeley does some good brain washin' LOL.

 

[Gen Stonewall]

Originally posted by: Jhhnn
Attacking Lakoff on the basis of his tenure at Berkeley is an excellent example of just how this propaganda machine works. Don't bother with what he has to say, worry about where he works. Play on existing belief and prejudice, even folklore and urban myth, provide an irrational emotional component to any argument as a way to predispose the audience to take your side.

It's a way to make any question or issue a loaded question, and is often successful at concealing the added psychological component of the message. It is a linguistic artform, often losing its impact when carried to a different language or culture. Koranic verse still overwhelms the intellect of even highly educated speakers of Arabic, but often falls flat in translation. Hitler's speeches rendered an entire generation of Germans into drooling idiots, but was obvious drivel to their French and English neighbors. It's all about cultural and linguistic context, and playing on the underlying irrationality of belief. People have certain prejudices and beliefs, playing on them w/o the subjects realizing it is key to any propaganda campaign.

So we get phraseology designed to obfuscate the underlying intent and simultaneously smear any opposition with an argument not even presented.

"No child left behind"

"Clear skies initiative"

"Healthy forest program"

"Tax relief program"

"Homeland security"

"Patriot Act"

It even extends into the realm of the oxymoronic-

"War on terror"

"Death tax"

What's in a name? In this context, everything. These guys could sell road apples as candy and strychnine as rapture if they could just find the right name for it...

Propaganda also involves exaggeration and broad generalizations.