propaganda

Thursday, September 24, 2009
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OBSERVATIONS
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Once upon a time they challenged the might of an empire. They are now afraid of the words of a minor scribbler. They preach heroism but practice cowardice.
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My ambition: to expose that which is covered up and to state clearly and briefly that which everyone almost thinks.
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Failure is a better teacher than success.
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To succeed in one field means to fail in a thousand others.
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In an ideal society everyone would be a success because everyone would be allowed to find or invent his own field.
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Armenians are sheep with odars, wolves with one another.
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Friday, September 25, 2009
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POWER
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Because they couldn't get at our revolutionaries, they went after the defenseless civilians. This is an aspect of the Genocide that is covered up by both sides.
Our revolutionaries preached heroism (they still do) but practice taking care of number one (ditto). Which may suggest that “when the going gets tough, the tough get going” but not always in the same direction.
I am not casting aspersions. All I am saying is that sometimes the instinct for self-preservation trumps all other political and moral considerations. That may well be the secret of our survival.
As for our intellectuals: the very few that survived (Zabel Yessayan among them) were later betrayed to the authorities by another set of our so-called “revolutionaries.”
In their national anthem, the English sing: “God save our gracious Queen.”
We would be justified in singing : “God save us from our revolutionaries.”
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Moral I: Power means first and foremost the power to redefine words, and when power redefines words they end up meaning the opposite of what they say. As when freedom is redefined to mean the freedom to indoctrinate, intimidate, and enslave.
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Moral II: Even in the most benevolent leader there is a vampire who loves the taste of blood.
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Moral III:
Without indoctrination and intimidation, a power structure collapses like a house of cards in a windstorm.
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Moral IV:
If we are unteachable, it may be because we are eminently brainwashable.
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Moral V: When it comes to their own historic experience, both Armenians and Turks are denialists.
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Saturday, September 26, 2009
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PROPAGANDA
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Understanding history has been a central concern of historians, metahistorians, and philosophers from Herodotus to Hegel, Spengler, and Toynbee.
What propaganda does in effect is to assert the earth is flat and it repeats this falsehood so often that millions end up believing it.
If it were up to propagandists, the work of countless thinkers would be buried and forgotten, or viewed as dangerous heresies.
The real aim of propaganda is less to misrepresent reality and mislead the people and more to moronize the masses by paralyzing the brain and perverting understanding to such a degree that a man who cannot even lead his dog to the nearest fire hydrant is glorified as a statesman of vision.
Had the Nazis won World War II, we would now have statues of Hitler, Himmler, Goebbels, and Goering in the central square of every city, town, and village. This may explain why Talaat is seen as a statesman of vision by some and our revolutionaries are glorified as heroes by others.
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We are divided not by truth but by lies.
God does not divide.
Divisions are the Devil's department.
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Propaganda flatters.
That is the secret of its popularity.
It flatters the fool to believe he is wise,
and it flatters the murderer to believe he is a hero.
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