BY:DONALD SEVILLA
THE ART OF PROPAGANDA
” Deliberately poisoning the minds of people with malicious and false information is the highest form of deceit.”
– DBS
Information is power for knowledge is key to victory. In the art of war, knowing your enemy spells a difference between victory or defeat.
It is important that one projects strength where he is weak or weakness where he is strong, to lure the enemy into complacency. Knowing when to act accordingly is equally important to achieve resounding victory in the battlefield.
Similarly in all other aspects of our lives, it is a battle, a struggle to achieve what we aspire for. In the course of our life’s struggles we must learn to navigate its intricasies, often treading on unfamiliar grounds relying on our instincts.
Politics is no different but we must be more discerning. For it is where black becomes white and lines are blurred that sometimes truth is difficult to separate from fiction.
In this age of social media where we have access to different platforms to get our messages across, it becomes a great challenge to remain steadfast and committed to the truth.
Here perception matters and plays a key role to success or failure. It is important that people or the public are led to believe what we wish to project to gain victory.
Opponents are defeated not by actual bullets, although it does happen, but by a barrage of misinformation and false narratives that cloud sound judgment.
Voters are misled and goaded into accepting the “false realities” being peddled by constantly bombarding them with propaganda.
Yet even after victory, these narratives have to be sustained to keep the public from realizing that they’ve been had and taken for a ride.
Looking for skeletons and digging up the past to cover up inadequacies in the present is important to preserve self-interests. Plunder cases after cases have to be filed to project gravity of the matter although flimsy to keep the blame away from those in power and point fingers somewhere else.
Ain’t this what we are seeing today? The powers that be, do not seem to find peace and comfort in their positions as they fear people may awaken to see the truth.
While Rome was on the verge of collapse, the Emperor entertained his people at the ” Circus Maximus” to keep them away from the pressing concerns of the day.
Don’t we find glaring similarities in our basketball tournaments, beauty pageants and other activities that distract us from worrying about our next meal?
Let us play deaf and dumb no more and wake up to the grim reality we face, long after claiming victory at the polls!