Authoritarian propaganda is on the rise in the United States of America, and around the world. Some people have not noticed it yet. Hence, I write about it!
It is no secret that I am a huge advocate against misinformation. And misinformation thrives in propaganda. Propagandists are in the business of dividing people into two groups: Obedient fools and anybody who dissents with their “approved” rhetoric.
Politics are irrelevant – yes really…
I’ve said it before, and I say it again. Authoritarians and propagandists do not give a crap about your politics. That is incidental at best. It is more valuable for them to understand what your biases are so these can be exploited. Either they will have you fight on their court (by coercion or otherwise gaining your volunteering candor), or put you in the dissenting camp. Depending on how powerful you are on the dissenting side it could affect if these dynamics will turn violent – and no, more power does not necessarily mean fewer attacks.
My last article I wrote about how pleasantly surprised I was with this new “Threads” app from Meta. I’m not alone, most people I’ve had the pleasure to interact with in threads feel the same way. Actually, talking about how rough the “X” Twitter neighborhood has gotten there seems to be a common trend with the Threads crowd. And deep inside I start to worry that inadvertently this great new app will become another matter of division between one “political stance” against another.
We saw something similar during COVID between mask or no mask, and vaccine or no vaccine. Clearly although there is a level of diversity for politics in “X” there is a lot of contention in any comment section. In threads it is actually not like that – not that I’ve seen at least for the most part. I’ve had some wonderful conversations from people from all walks of life, and this keeps validating my point that we are more similar than different.
But remember, this is not convenient to a propagandist. I feel very strongly about this, that is why I wrote two books that speak about how propaganda has been weaponized throughout history, and how this is affecting us right now. Right now, a non-insignificant part of the population is blissfully and willfully ignorant of how a dark chapter of history is repeating – except that in this century the destruction would be exponential.
Woke & Proud: The Charlatans’ Inconvenience by J. Marcelo Baqueroalvarez | BookBaby Bookshop
And this is happening already, there are major armed conflicts in strategic geographical choke points RIGHT NOW! Also, there is no shortage of people gaining seats of prominence around the world who are prominently displaying indicators for this dark period. Sure, that a lot of that is not “news” worthy to some – but it is happening. Sadly, news stories and even a lot influencers covering geopolitics are still tethered to an algorithm that would either gain or lose an audience. The algorithm IS the audience – and the fact is that the audience usually prefers not to hear about something that is going to scare the s–t out of them in a non-fiction manner.
Trust me, I am an analyst – it depresses the living s–t out of me too… but not for the reason you might think. It depresses me because I feel like 90% of the time I am screaming into a void, but only a small fraction is reacting to what we try to do to save their very lives. I understand the concepts are abstract and it will seem hyperbolic to many people. It is designed to be that way. Please don’t feel bad if you’ve fallen victim to that – propaganda is a sinister art form, and it is subtle enough to become part of a person’s own identity.
People who have a strong political, religious, organizational, or any other type of bias also have more proclivity to being exploited by a propagandist pushing for authoritarian rhetoric. In fact, for the targeted audience, it will feel counterintuitive to agree with anybody other than their “dear leader.” Again, it is designed to be that way.
Good people, patriotic people, people of faith, people of good “moral values,” people who are [actually] altruistic are also prone to be victims of this reality. Yes, I know, right? – Counterintuitive. When people and their community feel that they are vindicated over a particular world view – no matter how destructive – it will not matter to the person who has fallen into this echo chamber. Suddenly this becomes an “us against them” situation. And it works, and it has worked for years. That is why I wrote my books, to shed some light on that reality that is hidden in plain sight.
How do you know if you’re being bamboozled?
There are many ways to realize if a person is getting bamboozled. And I’ll be honest, I’ve been dealing with a few swindlers and scammers even very recently. I identified that in the first moments of our interaction – but it is fascinating to see how they operate. So, I let it go for a while. First because I want (perhaps naïvely enough) to see if me being the better person is going to wake up that conscience inside them. Yes, that does happen.
And second, because I like to see firsthand their tactics – and what type of language they use. How they use “sugar” to bring us closer – and slowly moving from altruism to a [covert] scam. They will appeal to your better nature, learn from you, and use this against you, try to guilt you into something. And continue to try to manipulate you. I can see this in the first seconds of an interaction.
When somebody is lying, no matter how well they try to craft a lie, the math is not going to add up somewhere. I on the other hand am forthcoming. And I am true to my principles, so I will treat everybody the same – give everyone the benefit of the doubt. That does not mean that I am not tracking what is actually going on. And I don’t lie… but I will walk away. These swindlers come more often than you might imagine. Sadly, for years I’ve seen these attempts. Some are more sophisticated than others.
Propaganda is very similar. I’ve mentioned this before – no matter what political figure you favor (especially if you’re an ultra-fan of this person); I’m willing to bet that if somebody talks smack about this person who enjoys your devotion, you’ll be prone to be defensive or go on the offensive. Why is this happening? Because this person of your devotion has become a reflection of you – with all your virtues and idiosyncrasies. Let this go uncontrolled long enough and it becomes a cult of personality.
But these cults of personality can become extremely dangerous, even if the authoritarian wanna-be does not actually end up being elected. These seeds are planted and another opportunist will be able to harvest them later. That is why it is so important to differentiate truth from bulls–t. That is why you won’t see me go on the attack to any left-or-right leaning person as a person – but I will address the merits of issues I find problematic.
The division of our people (all over the world) is rampant. In some authoritarian countries, the dissenting has been quelched and people who were once free to speak their minds – they are very aware of what is the punishment for speaking “out of turn” on this current homeland. Yes, this could happen in the United States of America if we are not careful. And yes, we are trending that way – fast – and it is extremely disturbing to see. That is why understanding who we elect to an office of influence is so important.
If somebody is pushing propaganda, it is actually very easy to identify. They are divisive towards somebody else. Equality only applies to a group, but there are repercussions, particularly very harsh repercussions to anybody who dares go against the grain of the like-minded-folks. Otherwise, good and well-intentioned people are prone to fall for this trap. If a propagandist is making you a useful fool, consider the divisiveness of their rhetoric.
This is happening all over the world, there are even some “copy cats” who emulate not only mannerisms, buzz words, but even hair-cuts! There is a reason why this works so well, because it creates a visceral response on people who feel that “finally somebody is doing something about this thing I am supposed to be mad about.” And I am not saying that disagreeing is bad, in fact it is important to listen to dissenting points of view in order to come up with a better solution.
In fact, diverse opinions – even conflicting ones are part of any venture’s planning process. Furthermore, not having dissention tends to bring a project towards failure because it was planned in a vacuum. But dissention does not equal anarchy; however, the factors to be considered in a planning process must be factual – unfounded opinions will become time-wasters and people will start chasing elusive shiny objects in lieu of actual solutions. Facts are logical, measurable, and demonstrable.
That means that they can be held to scrutiny and no matter how you feel about it, the fact will be what it is – like it or not. For example, if you’re holding a paper cup – it does not matter what you want to call it, it is still a paper cup. No matter if you use it for a different use than its designed intended purpose – it is still a paper cup.
I cited a paper cup because it is the closest object in front of me. But the fact is that no matter how I view it, or show it, or demonstrate it, or measure it, or weight it, or x-ray it, or take a photo, or pour liquid on it, or spill the liquid from it, or draw a puppet on this cup… it does not matter… it is still a paper cup, there is no viable dissention. A propagandist will try to convince you that this paper cup is a champagne flute or anything else for that matter. And in fact, you may even pour champagne on it – but even with that – the reality is that this reception remains a paper cup.
I’ll be as blunt as to say that I am sick and tired of this division among otherwise good people. I have reached people with larger platforms than mine – not everybody has been very receptive – some have not even answered at all. But there are enough who are listening and we (Half Life Crisis) will be featured in more outlets in the coming weeks. I won’t give up because I don’t want the dark pages in our history to repeat and sit idle as I see the world burn down. And yes, so many places around the world are burning down. Even some people in my reader’s audience are surviving in places where the conflict they are struggling against (right now) found them.
I’ve said it so many times before, but it is worth repeating. Please help me spread this message. I wrote my books in order to speak about that in detail. Admittedly, some of the people who have read my book stated that they found it a lot more eye-opening than they thought at first. I’m happy to hear that, because that was the intent. The books are thought-provoking and designed to unmask the propaganda hidden in plain sight.
If you have a platform, all I really ask you is to please give it a chance and read some pages (even if it is the preview in any of the outlets available). My books are non-fiction and the topics are extremely emergent. Things are continuing to deteriorate around the world very rapidly – and that includes these United States. We can stop authoritarianism on its tracks – together. I’ll continue doing my part shouting it onto any platform I can find.
Thank you for spending this time with me. I will close by reiterating that the reason why I have been emphasizing these topics is because this is affecting us all – no matter where in the world you are today. We are all in this together, and much like the “Threads” app, there are a lot better people out there than bad ones hijacking the narrative. We can regain control – together! HLC
Woke & Proud: The Charlatans’ Inconvenience by J. Marcelo Baqueroalvarez | BookBaby Bookshop