Propaganda!

These older forms of propaganda could be considered (now) as racist and inappropriate; however when they were first published, they were accurate representations of how Americans saw their enemies (or how they were encouraged to see their enemies). Compared to the politically correct ads of today, these older posters were awfully harsh. The propaganda ads of today are easier to distribute via things like television, internet, newspaper, etc.

With the advent of new technologies, more people are able to distribute their own propaganda, unlike years ago where it was mostly the government and large organizations. It was pretty uncommon in the Forties for the average person to own a full printing press, able to make thousands of copies. Nowadays, you can buy a decent copier/printer for around $100, and make thousands of copies within an hour, as can be seen throughout our campus here at State. While most of it is just spam for kids to share their Twitter or to talk about a club, it still shows how easy it is to distribute information. Also, through sites like Youtube, people can record themselves talking about whatever they agree/disagree with, and share it with thousands of people within seconds, depending on where and how they share the link. Another good method mentioned in the prompt was a billboard. A person, or group of people, can pool their money together and put pretty much any message they want on a giant billboard, where it will be seen by thousands of people everyday as they drive.





















The propaganda available today seems to carry a much different message than its older counterpart, which mostly consisted of pro-labor and pro-war ads. Nowadays, its often something the like the PETA ad we viewed in class, which just encourages you not to eat meat, or something like the picture I shared above, trying to pick at or change someones political beliefs. It also seems to me that it isn't the government distributing the most propaganda today, its mostly private entities, such as businesses or individuals. A good example is how everyone will have you believe that the wars we are fighting are just for oil, while the government says it was to save the people of Iraq and Afghanistan from their tyrant leaders. I suppose either position could be right, depending on what your view of it is.

As for who (it seems) we should be afraid of nowadays, no person or group of people springs to mind. A lot of it falls back to what I said about the use of propaganda to push a political message, which in this case might be that people should be afraid of a political party based on their 'agenda'. Folks might also feel threatened by, or ready to fight, anyone who impedes on their freedoms, such as gun ownership or ability to smoke.

Overall, propaganda still exists in our modern world, though it might not be as harsh as it once was. Despite how it is changed or how it is distributed, it still exists only to persuade others into a certain line of thought.