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Page: Profile: Wren's Nest News Local
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Article: 20950
[Society]
Date Posted:
7/29/2009
10:34:13 am EDT
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Views: 4,607
RSS: 13,257
Comments: 11
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How The Nazis Sold Hate
Author: Robyn Lydick Source: Colorado Community Newspapers
Title: HOW THE NAZIS SOLD HATE
In a time when the words Nazi and propaganda are tossed like confetti to label anyone or anything the speaker dislikes, getting a lesson on how the National Socialist party rose to power in Germany using a systematic program of propaganda puts hate into perspective.
Steve Luckert, a speaker from the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, lectured to two packed rooms at Classic Residence by Hyatt retirement community June 22.
“Propaganda is a biased message used to shape public opinion or behavior,” Luckert said.
It is, at its heart, advertising, as novelist Aldous Huxley wrote.
“The message might be true,” Luckert said. “But propaganda omits certain information. All the facts might be true but information is left out that puts the facts in perspective.”
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Community Thoughts: There are 11 comments posted | Reverse Sort |
| It's Easy To Sell It | Aug 1st. at 1:30:00 pm EDT
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Medea (Somewhere, Massachusetts) - Email Me
If people are so ready and willing to buy it.
Sad but true.
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| Psychology | Jul 30th. at 6:06:02 pm EDT
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Wild Huntsman (Toronto, Ontario) - Email Me
The Nazis understood psychology, Geobbels was a master at the psychology of mass persuasion, and careful study of how they did it should serve as an object lesson to everyone after. The same techniques have been employed to sell perfume, eletronic gizmos, and the idea that our (all of North America) current unteneble lifestyle is the ne-plus-ultra of human achievement. The same techniques have produced popular support for unwinnable wars, appalling attitudes, and so-called 'morality' issues that robs 4/5 of the population of their civil and human rights.
The short version, that the Nazis understood, is that people will adjust their attitude and beliefs to suit their behaviour, rather than their behaviour to suit their attitude and beliefs. Whenever any gap occurs between stated belief and actual behaviour, people experience cognitive dissonance and must reconcile their actions with their beliefs. It is easier to modify a belief through rationalization (or plain and simple out-and-out denial) than to live with the internal shame of failure to live up to one's own ideals. Goebbels also knew that people must be encouraged, or driven, to act out. Since fear is acute, immediate, and always effective at getting people to act, the Nazis set up fears to motivate people to act a certain way, or at least become more symptathetic to others acting a certain way.
The propaganda part contains half-truths, which are always much harder to counter than whole lies. There is no doubt that bankers profited from the war that had such devastating effects on so many people and there is no doubt that some of those bankers were jewish. Because of the medieval laws prohibiting jews from many jobs, a great many perforce became bankers and doctors and merchants, so the stereotype was created by the rules which were kept because of the stereotype. So the anger and fear of the workers, already taught to dislike Jews, was easy to focus into hatred.
The final aspect is the 'us' attraction, the tendency of people to hang out with other people: like attracted to like. It is a very, very short step from saying 'I like these people' to saying 'I dislike other people who are not like us' and an equally short step from honouring one way of living to denigrating other ways of living. (Some groups cross that line with a hop, skip, and a jump...)
Anyone, anywhere can easily fall for this, every conservative-minded government tries to pull this off, because all one has to do is:
-set up an 'enemy' and create fear of that enemy, internal or external.
-ensure that only one point of view is widely spread around and that the same half-truths are repeated, until they become accepted as wholly true.
-encourage people to do small things, so that their behaviour is in accord with the given belief. It doesn't matter if people started out believing it, or even believe it at first, they will eventually accept it.
-Thoroughly discourage anyone from raising questions. The genius of the Nazis was that at every turn, was that the most rational option for people was to just go along. When the choice is between a severe beating and averting your eyes, almost all people will avert their eyes. So people went along, and they did it a little bit at a time, until they found themselves in a place where they had to deny reality to reconcile the gulf between their humanity and their actions (or, to be more accurate, the result of their inaction) .
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| Branding | Jul 30th. at 12:43:15 pm EDT
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karrie9 (Kenosha, Wisconsin) - Email Me - Web
Recently, there's been a movement to **heavily associate** (crossing lines into negative branding...the old tear the other down to make your religion look better) Hitler's reign with the occult even though Hitler favored a mass movement, used Christianity, manipulated Christian ministry (and worse if they didn't comply or were the "wrong" kinds of Christian ministers/priests) and denigrated the occult-conspiratorial approach.
That hasn't stopped history channel specials and the like from also heavily associating occultism with Nazism in Hitler's Germany...and without sufficient explanation and examination of the use of religion during those times.
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| Yet More Proof... | Jul 30th. at 6:32:57 am EDT
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Laura C. (Weston, Florida) - Email Me
...proof that those who do not learn history are doomed to repeat it. Americans tend to portray Hitler as having been obviously evil, ignoring the fact that he was elected by the German people--who probably would not have done so if they'd known from the outset what putting Hitler in office would mean. They pretend that the difference between good and evil is always clear-cut and obvious, that bad people do not lie, that an evil cause cannot masquerade as good. This naive simplicity is why in 2004, so many of us were willing to re-elect a president who had suspended habeas corpus.
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| It's Not Just Used To Sell Hate.... | Jul 30th. at 2:48:25 am EDT
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nasionnaich (Stanchfield, Minnesota) - Email Me
Adolph Hitler said, in his book "Mein Kampf" (1924) -- "The great masses of the people...will more easily fall victim to a big lie than to a small one."
Propaganda is not used only to spread hate. It is used all the time to spread lies designed make a person or group look better. Think about this:
The American Revolution was fought to free the Colonists from the yoke of British tyranny.
The above statement is complete true, yet it is also false. It is true that the revolution was about freedom -- but just which colonists were really so concerned about "British tyranny" that they did not have to be persuaded to fight against that "British tyranny"? here's a clue: The "Boston Tea Party" was not really about Liberty or "taxation without representation" -- it was about the fact that products from "America" were being sold in Europe for the benefit of Europe.
The profits were not being spent on "America", and (quite specifically) none of it was making its way back into the pockets of those "Americans" who happened to control the money in "America".
They don't teach this in schools. Anyone wonder why not?
So when your favorite politician says that their pet project is going to improve the Nation and benefit you, start asking "In what way?"
p.s.; It is possible to live near a slaughterhouse and not know what happens inside it. Because of the propaganda put out by the government (and everyone is taught from birth to always trust what they are told by the government) , the people are led to believe it is a "health clinic" for cows. Cows are seen to go in, but they never come back out -- because they are "shipped out at night when everyone is sleeping".
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| ... | Jul 29th. at 9:22:42 pm EDT
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R. T. Hummingbird ( (when I'm home) Jenks, Oklahoma) - Email Me
I saw once on a local news website's comment board about some random topic, a comment from a user which said, among other harsh words, "Blessed are the ignorant, for they are the easiest to manipulate." While I would have made more of an effort to word that a little less scathingly, I would otherwise agree with that statement.
It would co-relate to the topic of the essay "Why Johnny Can't Think" by Spirit Walk Ministry published here June 21, 2009. Our schools are teaching our children to follow without question, and then our government (s) are feeding our unquestioning public whatever the government wants the people to know.
This elaborate form of mind control is how such large empires are created and kept alive. It could be considered to be the apex of human evolution. Likewise, it would be wise to remember that as soon as we reach the highest possible point (whatever that may be) , the only way to go from there is down.
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| It Isn't Just The Christians, Either | Jul 29th. at 8:48:46 pm EDT
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Aidan Odinson (Collingdale, Pennsylvania) - Email Me - Web
Let us not forget that Martin Bormann was totally anti-Christian.
But to the typical German, the Nazis did not seem to be about hate at first. Most Germans in the period just before Hitler came to power knew the Nazis as the people who would organize free picnics for their neighborhood.
And then there is what a lady told me who had lived through that time in Germany. She said "It was like someone threw a big light switch: Hitler came to power, and everyone went back to work."
Consider also that Hitler had completed almost a full term before the Nuremberg Laws were enacted. Those were the laws which codified anti-Semitic discrimination.
Evil can come to power by speaking the words of righteousness and doing good deeds.
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| While We're Discussing... | Jul 29th. at 8:41:52 pm EDT
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Corax (Glendale, Arizona) - Email Me
propaganda, let's talk about the fundys/ Religious Reich.
Yesterday I saw on the news that the politicians who are members/residents of the notorious "C Street" xian house in Washington D.C., have been encouraged by the leader/pastor (?) to go to foreign countries (mostly on the taxpayers' dime) to encourage world leaders to join them in their radical Dominionist fundyism.
According to the news, the "pastor" believes and preaches that xians/fundys should use "strong leaders" of the past and present as role models in order to get things done.
Several of the "strong leaders" he cited were Joseph Stalin, Adolf Hitler, Osama bin Laden, etc.
If anyone still doubts (as I've been writing for years) that fundys are evil, dangerous people, you may now put those doubts to rest! If the fundy politicians aren't stopped cold and thrown out of office, and run out of DC on a rail, and the rank and file fundys aren't made into despised pariahs, we can all look forward to a resumption of the Burning Times in the not-too-distant future!
(Surely some weak-kneed individuals will say that I am trying to sell hate too, but I ask you, why should I not oppose the philosophy and its adherents that is deliberately trying to destroy me and my brothers and sisters?)
Self-preservation is the highest law.
- Anton LaVey
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| It Isn't Just The Nazis... | Jul 29th. at 7:13:12 pm EDT
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bigcat (peoria, Illinois) - Email Me
When a regime takes over, the first to be targeted are artists, intellectuals, authors and others, and those who don't bend to the current philosophy are usually eliminated, because they know best what is going on, they ask questions and demand answers which could be embarrassing for those in power and are not as swayed by propaganda as is the general public.
Half truths work well in propaganda because there is always something that will verify the statement, even though it is a lie otherwise. It wasn't just the Nazis who used such devices, the Russians and the Chinese also use propaganda whenever possible, and so does our country when it wishes to sell an unpopular idea to the people or to hide something unpleasant.
They assume that the average person will not want to inquire too deeply into things, especially if he stands to gain in some way, and in this, the Nazis were largely correct. Most people never bothered to care about how things were getting better, so long as they did.
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| ... | Jul 29th. at 7:06:22 pm EDT
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Draken (Bronx, New York) - Email Me - Web
They neglected a few points.
Most of Europe is xian. The Vatican runs most of Europe. The Vatican backed Hitler. Do the math.
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| Selling Hate | Jul 29th. at 6:47:07 pm EDT
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foreverknightfan (Dardanelle, Arkansas) - Email Me
Actually this is not new about using propaganda to sell hate. Both " Justice at Nuremburg" and " The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich" detail some of the forms of propaganda. The History Channel in its many programs about Hitler and Nazism also delved into the propaganda machine.
Simply put, propaganda is geared not for factual accuracy but to con people to believe the worst in certain targeted groups, and therefore to make those people less than human.
Religion uses propaganda as well as political groups. Ever actually look at what the Far Right says about gay people, for example? During the Anita Bryant years, the propaganda against gay people was more open and hateful. They still have the Phelps bunch and their hatred of gays is more disguised but its still there.
And, OC there is the propaganda against Pagans and other non-Christians, not mention the various instances where some people don't even bother to understand what we actually believe. How many TV shows have put out bad stereotypes about some of us? ( Touched by an Angel, , for example) .
One of the problems in Nazi Germany that made the propaganda against Jews so effective was that a number of Germans did believe as Martin Luther did about Jewish people. When all opposing publications were banned or destroyed, the propaganda machine churned out the hate to show that all of Germany's problems could be placed on the Jews. When the Jewish people were rounded up and transferred away, few if any Germans bothered to question what the fate of these families actually were.
One episode in particular illustrates the willing blindness of people. After German lost the war and the allies found the concentration camps, one unit marched the local townspeople through their concentration camp while the skeletonized prisoners watched them. When one woman shouted out they didn't know this was going on for years ( the crematory and ash in the air were obvious clues) , one camp survivor responded "You knew". And they did. They just decided to be blind about it, partly to save their own skins.
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