[two characters are talking]
Vaccines have saved millions of lives you know
[a blue character points at them proudly]
Heh, look at those idiots over there, they believe in the most obvious propaganda
[the blue character is shown doing various faces]
Anyway, did you know communism killed 100 million people?
I’ve seen that 20% of the people commit 80% of the crime
Our military keeps the world a safer place
Everyone starts with opportunities, you have to earn your place in society, work harder
[sixteen variations of the blue character are shown on a multicolored grid]
Crime is out of control and keeps getting worse
Men are natural leaders, women’s nature is to nurture
Billionaires create jobs
Poor people just keep making bad decisions in life
Migrants are taking our jobs
Socialism is when we all share the same paycheck
If you have nothing to hide you have nothing to fear
If minimum wages go up, everyone will get fired, it’s math
We brought modernity to the countries we colonized
The wage gap is a myth you’re just looking at it wrong
Immigration mathematically causes crime
Developing countries are poor because of corruption
We are the good guys
If workers were worth more, they would be paid more
Universal healthcare is communism
Patriotism means supporting the troops
[a large drawing of a serious Garfield is surrounded by the infinitely repeating phrase]
YOU ARE NOT IMMUNE TO PROPAGANDA
You won’t know if you’re being influenced by propaganda. You’ll feel you’re immune if it’s working well.
Propaganda usually works at a deeper level. It can nudge your attention towards some things and away from others, so that you don’t even realize you could have attended to other things. It can frame what you consider important or unimportant. It can subtly influence what facts you’re exposed to, or what you consider a fact from a trustworthy source. It can nudge your emotions and perceptions of trustworthiness, shape your unquestioned narratives and unconscious assumptions, influence how you form associations, mold your incentives, and determine what you’ll never see or hear and never know you’re missing. There are many voices in this world that, by design, you haven’t heard, and others that, by design, you don’t consider worth listening to.
Forming an opinion involves prior beliefs, definitions, and judgements about credibility and what counts as evidence. Propaganda steers these steps, not just the conscious opinion-forming you are aware of. By the time you’re aware that you’re forming an opinion based on facts, propaganda has often already done its work, and if you wind up undecided that might be exactly the intended result.
Not to mention that propaganda is often rooted in facts…just cherry-picked, misleading facts. And don’t get me started on green washing.
Hard to be influenced if one does not consume any (social)media. Sure, nowadays it’s not trivial to distinguish facts from manipulation, but that’s the best I can do without going to whatever the topic is, live there, observe and then form an opinion. If even possible.
If I even want that. E.g. In another comment I’ve been asked on my stance towards taiwan. If I’m neither Chinese nor Taiwanese nor living in one or the other, why would I need an opinion on that? To sound smart when others bring it up? To discuss a matter I have no influence in and will never decide anything. I may tend more towards Taiwan, but I also know the level of my information to form an opinion is maybe 1% of it all? So hence I keep that to myself.
Same applies to all general topics people have opinions about, formed by propaganda in whichever way and form.
I would die on a hill to discuss google being the murder of the internet, just because I was there from day1 to form a stance by observation.