Outrage Propaganda
Fear paralyzes. Anger mobilizes.
The media in this country (and perhaps everywhere) figured out a long time ago that emotion drives ratings. We’ve all heard the phrase “if it bleeds, it leads.” A story about a murder in the neighborhood is more enticing than a story about a Good Samaritan. This is because fear is a stronger human emotion than happiness.
Happiness is a reactive emotion. You experience something pleasant and, as a result, you feel happy. No further action required. Fear is a proactive emotion. When you experience something that frightens you, your survival instincts kick in and you immediately try to figure out how to avoid the imminent danger.
This is why the best propaganda has always appealed to fear. When people are scared, they seek protection. A threat is presented, eliciting an emotion (fear), then the propagandist presents the brainwashed with a solution that will supposedly protect them.
In years prior, the powers that be used this method of propaganda very bluntly. A media-fueled frenzy connected crime and degeneracy to marijuana use and fearful citizens welcomed criminalization. Exaggerated stories about the dangers of industry led to countless regulations. Blatant lies about Saddam Hussein’s weapons of mass destruction led the public to infinity war.
You still see this problem, reaction, solution dynamic today with the media coverage of mass shootings. But social media has made it much easier for factual information to spread and destroy the fear-based propaganda narratives. So naturally, the corporate media has rolled over and given up.
Not. Enter the outrage cycle.
In the problem, reaction, solution model, a threat is presented, the reaction is fear, then the initiator presents a solution to the brainwashed.
In the outrage model, an injustice is presented, the reaction is anger, then the brainwashed present their own solution to the initiator.
Fear paralyzes. Anger mobilizes.
This new propaganda is extremely powerful, because the victims feel like they are in control. When someone presents you with a plan, you judge it based on its merits. When you come up with your own plan, you will defend it vociferously, since it is your own.
The trick here is that there are only a limited number of possible solutions that can be formulated from any given outrage, when anger is taken into account. An angry, outraged individual will generally react from a place of emotion, instead of reason. A logically thinking person could come up with any number of solutions based on the information he/she has acquired. An angry person returns one of a few angry responses.
The media’s vaccine narrative is a great example of this outrage propaganda.
The fear-based narrative would go something like this:
- Media: “There has been a measles outbreak.”
- Population: *fear*
- Government: “Mandatory vaccines for everyone.”
- Population: “Yay!”
The new outrage model goes like this:
- Media: “This family didn’t vaccinate their children.”
- Population: *outrage*
- Population: “mAkE ThEm VaCcInAtE!”
- Government: “Yay!”
Don’t underestimate how easy it is to get caught up in this type of mind control. If you find yourself outraged or angered by a media story, it’s likely that you are falling into a trap.
There’s a reason why outrage has become so prevalent in today’s culture. No, it’s not because liberals are snowflakes. Conservatives are just as guilty. Consider this:
- Facebook : *bans right-wingers*
- Conservatives: *outrage*
- Conservatives: “We need to regulate the internet!”
- Facebook: “Yay!”
There is no room full of hooded Illuminati, pulling the strings behind the scenes — there doesn’t have to be. The media in America serve many different masters and these forms of propaganda are used by different interests to achieve their ends.
On a previous podcast (031: Mind Control) I laid out how badly conservatives were manipulated by the “white cop shoots unarmed black man” narrative. You have to keep in mind that being factually right does not make you immune to propaganda. The only way to immunize yourself as far as I can tell is to ignore corporate media altogether. Even if you recognize the tactics, it’s very difficult to predict what role they have in mind for you.
And if you do choose to subject yourself to the propaganda, the next time you get angry at a news story, just take a couple deep breaths.
These are the show notes for Episode 033: Outrage Propaganda. Check out my Own Yourself Show on your podcast app every Monday and Friday evening. Follow me on Twitter @VotingIsVilence.
