EOTO: Propaganda

For decades, propaganda has been used to trick people into having a certain opinion. By definition, propaganda is information, especially of a biased or misleading nature, used to promote or publicize a particular political cause or point of view. Propaganda can be films, music, books, social media posts, and other things that are generally consumed by the public.

Above are three famous and historic examples of propaganda. The first, the iconic "I Want You" poster, appeared on the cover of a popular magazine. The poster was created to compel viewers to join the US military. The second poster, "We Can Do It!", was created by an electric company to boost morale of the women who already worked at the company. However, it was rediscovered years later, and became a symbol of feminism and female strength. The third poster, labeled "Liberators", was actually Nazi propaganda. This poster was designed to paint America in a poor light, and make Germans think less of them. 

Propaganda is used in different positive and negative ways. The pros of propaganda is it is very persuasive and effective. The cons are it is manipulative, it can contain misinformation, and the effectiveness lessens over time. In an article from Radio Free Europe, Lev Gudkov is quoted saying "Basically, propaganda destroys alternative understanding. It may not quite convince people, but it imposes on them the cynical view that everyone is a bastard, politics is a squabble between interest groups, and nobody should be believed." Of course, over the course of history, propaganda has been involved in almost all social changes and movements, having a big effect on society. Specific pieces of propaganda may affect some groups more than others, but generally almost every group has both benefited and suffered from the use of propaganda. Sometimes propaganda does harm, other time it does good, but make sure to keep an eye out for it so you don't get too sucked in.