Propaganda

1. Propaganda information, ideas, or rumors deliberately spread widely tohelp or harm a person, group, movement, institution, nation,etc.

2. "Through clever and constant application of propaganda, people can be made to see paradise as hell, and also the other way round, to consider the most wretched sort of life as paradise."— Adolf Hitler

3. LOADED LANGUAGE • language intended to produce an emotional response in the mind of the audience, in order to directly affect their views on a topic.

4. LOADED LANGUAGE 1. Fair Language: “You have asked for my views on the man named Mr. Smithers.  He has been a valued employee here for years.  If you can find a position for him in the management sector of your company, I will be pleased.” 2. Loaded Language: “You have asked for my views on that creature named Smithers.  He has been a clinging nuisance here for ages.  If you can find a crevice for him in the woodwork of your sweatshop, I will be relieved.”

5. Loaded Words That Play on ENVY LOADED WORDS ALTERNATIVE, MORE NEUTRAL WORDS wealthy prosperous cultured educated self-confident Assertive in control masterful • fat cat • Favored • Haughty • Snobbish • conceited, stuck-up • pushy • Aggressive • power mad

6. Loaded Words That Play on FEAR LOADED WORDS ALTERNATIVE, MORE NEUTRAL WORDS assertive self-confident Cautious circumspect discreet spontaneous Free-wheeling instinctive carefree • bully • aggressive • sneaky • underhanded • secret • out-of-control • impulsive • rash • reckless

7. Examples of loaded language in Politics. • The phrase "No Child Left Behind" emphasizes the innocence of children, and the feeling of isolation at being left behind, rather than the same program which could have been called "Helping students pass standardized tests succeed in school".

8. Examples of loaded language in Politics. • The "USA PATRIOT Act" is an acronym for Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act, but due to the title, it implies that those opposed to the Act are inherently unpatriotic.

9. Examples of loaded language in Politics. • The abortion debate invariably the use of loaded languge. • Opponents of abortion describe it as "child murder" or "infanticide", and describe themselves as "pro-life“. • Similarly, the pro-choice side loads its position to make the other side appear as if it is against freedom.

10. LOADED LANGUAGE THROUGHOUT HISTORY • Adolf Hitler and the Nazis routinely invented euphemistic phrases to disguise what they were doing, like the "Special Handling" that they gave the Jews, sending them to the "Final Solution." "Guest workers" were really foreigners who had been kidnapped at gunpoint and forced into slave labor brigades. Zyklon B, the poison gas used to kill millions of Jews, was called "material for the resettlement of Jews.” • Mao Tse Tung sent his enemies to slave labor on remote farms for "re-education" so that they would learn to "blossom properly.” • Throughout the entire second half of the twentieth century, various United States Presidents used the term "police action", rather than "war", to get around limitations on Presidential powers, and to avoid having to tell the public that we actually were in yet another war. • Enronused the term “aggressive accounting practices” to do things like turn $3 billion of very real losses into $1 billion of phony paper profits, which made the stock price rise, which was very convenient for the executives who were happily dumping their worthless shares of Enron stock on an unsuspecting public.

11. LOADED QUESTIONS Trick questions force the respondent to either admit to an opinion or fact they do not share, or deny a factual premise. Leading questions that supply the answer in the question

12. Loaded questions often contain assumptions, whereby the question is directed in a way that a straight answer needs that the person answering accept that which the questioner is assuming. • Where did you hide the gun? • [assumes that you hid the gun] • How often do you do that? • [assumes that you do it at least sometimes]

13. LOADED QUESTIONS The Trick Question • Example of a trick question: "When did you stop beating your wife?“ Asked in such a way, there is simply no way to answer the question if you have never beaten your wife. • Example of forced opinion: "So, you are going to vote for that lazy substitute the politician’s name of your choice?" If one says yes, they admit to the politician being lazy, if they say no, they are lying about voting. • Example of forced fact: "So you are one of those god-denying evolutionists?" The interrogee may think evolution is a fact, but also could be, say, a Christian.

14. LOADED QUESTIONSThe Leading Question • These questions often invoke arguments of association such as: • "Smart people have been shown to like Obama. Do you like Obama?" • "It's been proven that good and righteous Christians such as yourself, like Banana Cream Pie, do you like Banana Cream Pie?" While these examples are obvious, if the topic is in an area one is unfamiliar with, and the "associations" use what appear to be expert opinions, one may well be moved to agree without even realizing what one has done. • Amendment 2 in Colorado was a prime example of this. Few people understood the language of the bill, including many people in the legal profession. Polls would say to people "Experts analyzing this bill agree that it protects workers like yourself from being the victim of special rights groups. Workers all over the state are saying they feel threatened by this move, since it means someone can be hired who isn't qualified simply due to these special rights. Knowing that, and understanding how hard it is today to find a job, are you with us in our support of Amendment 2?"