Propaganda!

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By David Kirtley

Wed, 02 Mar 2022
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10 comments
 

At the present moment there is Propaganda all around us! I am doing it! I am on Facebook fighting the war of ideas, the war of words, rather than the more dangerous war of the frontline in Ukraine.

 

Many of us are doing it too, we can’t help ourselves! With the press of a keypad we can express approval, care and concern, shock, laughter or derision, sympathy and sadness, or anger. It’s all so easy, wise words after the event, criticism and belittlement, hero creation and worship!

 

We work ourselves into frenzies of anger, hope, pity, and pain for the people we see on the TV News. Are we being led too far, passions whipped up! Even the Russians or their leader, must surely have reasons for doing what they appear to be doing. But what are they? What could surely justify this chaos, misery, loss, and bravado?

 

I have heard the doublespeak of Russian Ministers, Spokesmen and women, and the All Powerful Leader! Sometimes it turned into gobbledygook, and now it often sounds like bullshit! Surely they cannot be winning this war of propaganda, even though they are supposed to be good at it historically? But what are the Russians, behind the new Iron Curtain thinking? Probably they are not even getting the stories we in the West are getting!

 

What of the Ukrainian propaganda, and the European propaganda, and the American propaganda? You don’t have to be Pro Russia to recognize this is propaganda. Ask yourself WHY are they so intent on getting you emotionally involved?

 

Good Point!

Maybe because it’s important?

Maybe because it’s an emergency?

Maybe because if they don’t draw attention to it now Ukrainian Independence may have been snuffed out before half of us notice?

 

Maybe they are hoping that somehow the truths of what is actually happening can somehow get through the Russian media controls to the Russian people so they can start to take some actions to restrain the military that are supposed to be operating in their name.

 

Maybe they are hoping Russian people might start to dissuade their sons from fighting a war they don’t need to fight against their distant relatives and not so long ago friends in Ukraine, or even to save their lives from the unsavoury orders they have been given?

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Comments

Submitted by David Kirtley on

I wrote this piece today, on 2/3/2022, partly from an answer I wrote to someone's Facebook Post, but I added a bit more in explanation!

Submitted by celticman on

I'm not sure of the answer eiher. 

 

Submitted by David Kirtley on

We are now into a new period of great uncertainty. We really don't know how all of this is going to end!

Submitted by Di_Hard on

It seems impossible to me to understand the horror of what they are going through. But we are all afraid this is only the start, that one wrong step in the dance could trip nuclear missiles in Europe. So many mistakes, not least of which was our inability to understand Russia's point of view. Again. Diplomacy is not just saying No when someone you don't like says they have a problem and asks you to solve it. And if they have the power or intention to cause great damage  then just saying No might make things worse?

If I risked being put in prison for not agreeing with the government, I would try not to think or feel at all because I am a coward.  Perhaps Ukrainians need Russians to choose to be as brave in Russian  streets as they are having to be in their own, and like you say, they are the only ones who can help. 

 

Submitted by David Kirtley on

Thanks for commenting Di Hard. I am thinking that maybe the European nations and Ukraine should have given Putin the guarantee he seems to want so badly that Ukraine cannot join NATO or the EU, and probably recognised Russia's annexation of Crimea, which was probably popular enough in Crimea, and maybe recognise the Separated/Occupied Donbass districts as before the Invasion last week. This may well have been enough to satisfy Putin, and seems preferable to his costly destructive invasion, and the fact that his forces are already occupying much wider areas at the moment, and the possibility that he may be able to extend his grip further over Ukraine. 

  But  western  nations and Ukraine were confused about what he really wanted, how far he would go, and what would satisfy him. I think Putin has got embroiled in this bigger crisis because he has failed to adequately communicate exactly what he wanted. The Western nations were surprised when he actually went ahead. Anyway.maybe negotiation will work on that basis even now. But if not Putin may well have a fight on to save his own regime. Perhaps it is better that his old fashioned regime is threatened for the long run. There do remain nuclear dangers, so we really do not want things to get too nasty! 

Submitted by Di_Hard on

You should be Foreign Secretary  :0) I think our actual one went to Russia simply to be as rude to Putin as she could, in his own country, so as to impress right wing Conservatives at home. What you say seems very sound. I do hope that would be enough of a "golden bridge" to be acceptable and that Ukraine is allowed to continue as a democracy, and that the most decent, brave leader in the world is allowed to continue as their president

 

Submitted by David Kirtley on

Thanks Di Hard for you very flattering comment (Don't forget to mention it to Boris!). But I do think this would be a sensible basis to negotiate and I am pleased you agree. Sadly this crisis could easily continue to get out of hand further. Part of me is very impressed by the Ukrainians' resistance, and wants to see us all 'take our gloves off' against Putin. As a writer I may want to satirise and belittle him, but really responsible solutions do need to be found!

Submitted by Di_Hard on

Ah, he would only want you if you were unquestionably loyal, I don't think having sensible ideas or understanding complex situations are relevant to our PM,  probably would seem more of a threat :0)

 

Submitted by marandina on

Every news story has bias of some kind. When does bias become propaganda? I watch the news and read the papers and, of course, western media demonise Russia. As ever, the truth is probably somewhere in the middle. In the meantime, war has no place in this day and age and the viral coverage of this conflict should be enough to convince everybody of that.

 

Submitted by David Kirtley on

Yes there is always some kind of bias. That kind of propaganda is inevitable, but when it turns to blatant lies it can become dangerous, because it obscures truth. I have been demonising Putin, but I suppose it could be that we are not understanding where his lines are drawn, and what he is thinking. Probably in this conflict and in the media the sides are not fully understanding each other. Truth, or at least a sensible solution, probably does lie somewhere in the middle, but events may take on a dynamic of their own, and war is or may take hold. We are all angry, and this may threaten the dictator's regime!