Propaganda Wars - Part 1

The West vs North Korea

Let’s start with the notion that a group could be so isolated from trustworthy sources of information that it becomes impossible for them to verify truths or resist propaganda. Seems reasonable. Most people accept that this is true of North Koreans, who are locked up in their own country and only exposed to the indoctrination of their authoritarian leaders. The claim goes that they will thence believe any old thing, such as these crazy stories about their leaders.

Further susceptibility can come from the conditions they live in. By all accounts, starvation is a widely used tool of the North Korean Regime, which could be expected to limit the capacity for resistance movements to form, but also would limit the option of critical thinking. Starving humans are not great thinkers.

Unfortunately, this is where the differences between North Korean Indoctrination Tactics and Western Indoctrination Tactics seem to end. A Wikipedia list - acknowledging the appalling relationship of that site with objectivity or pursuit of truth - will suffice for the list of things North Korea uses which Western Regimes use more aggressively, pervasively and effectively:

Cults of personality, fraudulent foreign relations, racial pride, a military industrial complex, state devotion, social control, gender divisiveness, posters, slogans, music, art, films, manipulation of language.

However, other tools exist and are being used by governments around the world which are not necessarily being used on North Korea. Could they be more cumulatively effective than the North Korean starvation and closed borders?

The following examples of such tools is not comprehensive, however it is what I would describe as uncontested - that is - not really refuted by anyone. (ignored, yes, but not refuted):

• General Inhibitors of critical Inquiry: Stress/threats, torture, pharmaceuticals, environmental toxins (eg. flouride, glyphosates), childhood vaccines, education systems, nudging and societal pressures

• More specific Propaganda Techniques: memory holing, gaslighting, search engine manipulation, bribery, imprisoning journalists without charge, freezing their bank accounts, blackmail of individuals, media monopolies, fascist techniques, controlled opposition, false flags, rewriting history, censorship, disinformation, misinformation, persecution of whistleblowers

Can we measure the cumulative effect of having so many types of indoctrination and censorship? How should we measure it? Should we trust the measures of corruption which stem from the corrupt system? Is propaganda more successful if it clearly eliminates/restricts information (North Korea) or if it gives the illusion of access (Western internet)? Does the scale matter? (26 Million vs Billions)

Should we measure it from a personal perspective? What is my ready access to information I seek?

The illusion of access has been so wildly successful that it is worth exploring.

Imagine, first, the North Korean planning:

We must keep our people tightly controlled, therefore we will need rigorously controlled borders, huge spending on military, all of which is constantly monitoring and intimidating our own citizens, we cannot effectively shape all narratives from around the world, so we will just shut off information. Most information will also be shut off from the ruling class, who must always be weak enough to not seriously challenge the regime. This will inhibit our citizens productivity just as much as the starvation we also encourage. We will turn citizen on citizen, encourage spying, and promote based on alliances, losing the benefits of meritocracy. There will be less taxes and economic growth for our regime to use, so we will need a carefully controlled vigilance and finely tuned machine at all times.

Now, allow me license to present a narrative for Western Power brokers:

We must perpetuate the illusion of democracy and free information at all times. This means we can dedicate very little resources to controlling our populations, while reaping all the benefits of their productivity and creativity. The online age (Google) has made this so much easier. We can shape information which presents the narrative we want. Unfortunately, this will require vast resources to limit the sharing of information or ideas which refutes our narrative. We will thus dedicate huge resources to censorship, propaganda, and the dulling of critical inquiry or free speech. We will need relationships between Defence departments, Big tech, and the Corporate Press. Individuals will now require a huge effort to pursue truths which do not progress our goals. Sadly, we will now be more aligned with China or North Korea than we will be with the founding principles of our nations. We hope people are slow to recognise this!

Thus ends part one, where, hopefully you finished more open to the idea that we are not so different to North Koreans after all. Part 2 will question whether we are not still worshipping a ‘great leader’ after all….