Propagandistic derogatory depictions are meant to humiliate and, in some instances, dehumanize the person who has become the target. Learn to defeat it!
They are exploiting your biases
I’ve been saying this for a while, propaganda is about stimulating that visceral response all humans have. Some people have a higher proclivity to fall for this trap depending on their environment, their upbringing, their current circumstances, etc. In other words, we’re all vulnerable – it just depends how much exposure you’re getting to this divisive rhetoric, and what’s your life is like at the time of said divisive exposure.
It’s a mind game, and sadly all humans – even “good people” can be extremely cruel if they are led to a dark path. With that said, I am very much emphasizing that I do not condone cruelty against others. But cruelty has been proven to be very much a possibility for all people. Much like we all could feel lazy at some point or get infatuated towards somebody who is toxic. Keep this last part in mind as you read this article, because propaganda clings and it stems from this vulnerability.
It has been used from the beginning of time, a caricaturized depiction to drive a point that could range from endearing to extremely divisive. But in reality, even a real photo can be used to depict a person in a negative light. Do yourself a favor, record a videoclip of yourself with your camera while reading a paragraph. Now look at this video clip frame by frame or stop it at various random points. What do you see?
Well, you’re going to see that we all have a tendency of making very different “faces” as we speak. Some will be very flattering, some will be very much unflattering, and there will be many bizarre expressions in between. A lot of times, propagandists will use an unflattering image of whomever they are targeting in order to humiliate them, and sometimes to dehumanize them. Let’s talk more about the latter.
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Dehumanizing people – a precursor to genocide
It is very easy to push people into an “us against them” war, if you don’t really know who “them” is as human beings. Remember that every person in the world has a story, some people have happy stories, some have extremely tragic tribulations – and everything in between. And also, people change based on their environment. In other words, we can all go through a very diverse range of experiences in our lifetimes.
We become the average of the five people closest to us. Simply put we will be changing as our company changes. When we are in a social bubble where everyone seems to think, look, and act just like we do – then everybody else will feel like an outsider. And a lot of times people are very leery of “strangers” – or anyone who they have not met. Well, newsflash, we humans are more similar than different, regardless of culture.
Yes, cultural traits will have a level of uniqueness – but those are also environmental – meaning that are based on what has been normalized in a particular area by a particular group of people. By exploiting people’s fear against others that seem to be “outside that group” it is very easy to rob them of their humanity, should an authoritarian propagandist find it pertinent to enact violence towards others. And no, it is not only a racial situation. There are many different ways people can be marginalized, and propagandists will hone into those biases – even if it is a very gradual process.
When I wrote my books Authoritarianism & Propaganda the Puppet Master Tools, and Woke & Proud the Charlatans’ Inconvenience, I wanted to demonstrate how this has been occurring throughout history, and how it is occurring again around the world – even as I type this article. That is why I keep typing every day. There are adversarial regimes and entities who benefit when we are divided. And they are winning.
How can we defeat them? By understanding that whenever they are trying to rob somebody else’s humanity – it is not just because they want to divide us, but more nefariously, because they expect those exposed to that propaganda to either condone or inflict harm onto that targeted and dehumanized group – whenever directed to do so. It is even more insidious than that, because at that point it will feel like it was the “individual person’s” idea and commitment to carry on with these crimes.
This is exactly what has happened throughout history. People depicted in a dehumanized manner have been attacked and often became victims of prosecution, harassment, disenfranchisement, lynchings, or even genocide. This violence brews for as long this was implanted in the aggressor hearts and minds, and many of those who will ultimately carry the crimes were hoping and waiting for that call for action issued by the “authority in charge.” WE can stop this from happening TOGETHER. Yes, it takes a collective effort. HLC