Leap 3: Propaganda Inquiry
Before this semester, I thought I had a grasp of the idea of propaganda. However, after going through this insightful and interesting course, I can say that I had basically no knowledge of what propaganda truly was beforehand. When I thought of propaganda, I only thought of extreme cases such as the rise of communism or the rise of the Nazi Party during World War II, which is my first insight within this essay. While those are pivotal parts of propaganda history, propaganda is much more complex. Throughout this semester I learned that propaganda is all around, basically at all times. Scary isn’t it? Propaganda continues to evolve with the creation of new media forms. The second insight I talk about in my essay is the arrival of deep fakes and cheap fakes. This new form of propaganda has the ability to make people say something that they are not and could be very dangerous for years to come. The next insight I discuss is how propaganda is prevalent in our education system. Education vs. indoctrination is a big talking point and it is important to know the difference between the two. Indoctrination is a dangerous form of propaganda that forces core values onto our youth and has been growing with the divided political climate that is currently present in the United States. Next, I move onto how propaganda is present in the entertainment industry. Personally, I consume a lot of entertainment content and was not aware of the propaganda present. Especially with the US government’s role in Hollywood. Specifically how the CIA and Department of Public Defense has aided in the writing and production of over 1,000 Hollywood movies. Finally I move onto my most surprising insight which was the existence of beneficial propaganda. As a society we seem to only use propaganda as a negative word. However, use of propaganda in different forms of activism and art can actually make a positive impact on our society. Taking this course was very beneficial for me and learning different concepts around propaganda. It is present all around us and we must make sure that we do not succumb to harmful forms of propaganda.
