Dehumanization and how wars can be sold.

[klamath]

I know many many of us have sighed in pure exasperation when we hear people defend the war on terror. How in the world can your friendly neighbor that would risk his life to save your kid if he walked out on the street, yet argue passionately that we must kill muslims and it is our right to take the oil.
It all boils down to the fact they have dehumanized muslims to be less than human. They totally blind themselves to the horrors happening in the war and assign it to the same level emotionally as cattle going to slaughter. It is necessary for our lifestyle or survivial they believe.

How could the founding fathers that wrote that brilliant line in the Declaration of Independence that resounded around the world for coming centuries, that declared that "all men are created equal", allow a constitution that agreed to slavery? They could only allow this because they dehumanized black people to be less than men and therefore did not fall under "all men are created equal".

How can someone that can see these horrors of war and fights passionately against the waste of human life and fights just as passionately for the rights and freedom of people regardless of race or gender support the killing of the unborn humans? More children have died in abortions than all Americans killed in all wars of our history. They have dehumanized those children as unviable tissue masses.

This is why there is so much anger and passion in these issues because deep in peoples minds they know they are dehumanizing and if they opened their minds to realize this they would on their knees retching in horror at what they have supported or done.

[acptulsa]

But... We have always been at war with Eurasia...

[Truth Warrior]

Step # 1 in war, dehumanize the enemy to the folks back home.

[Kotin]

yes.. and this is what will be done to patriots as well..

[klamath]

If people really fully realized the human cost of war, not many would happen. Abortion wouldn't even be a question of laws, just something that is unthinkable to do on a personal level.

[acptulsa]

yes.. and this is what is being done to patriots as well..

I took the liberty of making a correction.

[Truth Warrior]

War Is A Racket
A speech delivered in 1933, by Major General Smedley Butler, USMC.
Smedley Butler
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article4377.htm (http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article4377.htm)



http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i304/Truth_Warrior/goering-quote.jpg

[Kotin]

I took the liberty of making a correction.

;)

[moostraks]

Sadly true...I heard a commercial pushing joining the service talking about how wonderful it was to be able to save someone's life by the job they do. It had something to do with military intelligence gathering. All I could think of was it is war and therefore while you are saving someone , someone else may be dying by your actions. They spin it so it seems heroic.

Looks like conservative radio took its cues from Goering...

[lucius]

Edward L. Bernays, nicknamed the Father of Spin, was the creator of modern propaganda. Bernays was Sigmund Freud's nephew, and applied Freud's work to the art of mass persuasion by blending advertising techniques with an understanding of human psychology. Bernays worked Walter Lippmann on the Committee on Public Information, otherwise known as the CPI. This government agency was created by President Woodrow Wilson in 1917 for the purpose of mustering public support for World War One. The original propaganda campaign had three rules: (1) Stress emotion over logic, (2) Demonize the enemy, and (3) Promise a war that will make the world safe for democracy. Used for every U.S. conflict since including the invasion of Afghanistan & Iraq; all have followed CPI’s playbook to the letter—you think Americans would wake-up?

From his 1928 book ‘Propaganda’: "The conscious and intelligent manipulation of the organized habits and opinions of the masses is an important element in democratic society. Those who manipulate this unseen mechanism of society constitute an invisible government which is the true ruling power of our country…it is the intelligent minorities which need to make use of propaganda continuously and systemically."

[WRellim]

But... We have always been at war with Eurasia...

I think you meant Eastasia... we have always been at war with EASTasia... at least I doubleplusgoodthinkso.
:confused:

[acptulsa]

I think you meant Eastasia... we have always been at war with EASTasia... at least I doubleplusgoodthinkso.
:confused:

You are correct. And I engaged in a doubleminusbad misspeak.

Obviously I haven't had enough practice with the forked part of my tongue.

[Truth Warrior]

Edward L. Bernays, nicknamed the Father of Spin, was the creator of modern propaganda. Bernays was Sigmund Freud's nephew, and applied Freud's work to the art of mass persuasion by blending advertising techniques with an understanding of human psychology. Bernays worked Walter Lippmann on the Committee on Public Information, otherwise known as the CPI. This government agency was created by President Woodrow Wilson in 1917 for the purpose of mustering public support for World War One. The original propaganda campaign had three rules: (1) Stress emotion over logic, (2) Demonize the enemy, and (3) Promise a war that will make the world safe for democracy. Used for every U.S. conflict since including the invasion of Afghanistan & Iraq; all have followed CPI’s playbook to the letter—you think Americans would wake-up?

From his 1928 book ‘Propaganda’: "The conscious and intelligent manipulation of the organized habits and opinions of the masses is an important element in democratic society. Those who manipulate this unseen mechanism of society constitute an invisible government which is the true ruling power of our country…it is the intelligent minorities which need to make use of propaganda continuously and systemically."


http://www.historyisaweapon.com/defcon1/bernprop.html (http://www.historyisaweapon.com/defcon1/bernprop.html)

[dwdollar]

I think all of you are missing the most important point...
"The War on Terrorism"
Terrorism is a type of warefare right? So how can you be at war with war? Can someone explain this to me?

I don't know which is sillier. That, or declaring war on inantimate objects.
"The War on Drugs"
You know what. I really hate snow. I think I'm going to declare war on snow...

Dehumanization is nothing new. Making absurd statements and having millions of people slurp up your words like it's milk and honey, is a whole different level of crazy.

[klamath]

So the question is how does one apeal to the decency in the human souls to make them realize the humanity in other beings that they have dehumanized?
RP was the only candidate once again that commanded the moral high ground on these issues and could not be caught in the hypocrasy of supporting abortion but being against the killing of war or vice versus.

[klamath]

I think all of you are missing the most important point...
"The War on Terrorism"
Terrorism is a type of warefare right? So how can you be at war with war? Can someone explain this to me?

I don't know which is sillier. That, or declaring war on inantimate objects.
"The War on Drugs"
You know what. I really hate snow. I think I'm going to declare war on snow...

Dehumanization is nothing new. Making absurd statements and having millions of people slurp up your words like it's milk and honey, is a whole different level of crazy.

I am not missing that point, The war on terror is just the name of the war that was given to the war against the muslims. What they call it does not matter as long a everyone knows what it really means. WWI & WWII were not wars against the inantimate object known as the earth.

[dwdollar]

I am not missing that point, The war on terror is just the name of the war that was given to the war against the muslims. What they call it does not matter as long a everyone knows what it really means. WWI & WWII were not wars against the inantimate object known as the earth.

And what does the "War on Terrorism" mean?

[dwdollar]

I fail to see how it only refers to Muslims, if that's what you're implying.

[Truth Warrior]

The Grand Deception
A Second Look at the War on Terrorism
G. Edward Griffin
http://www.silverbearcafe.com/deception.html (http://www.silverbearcafe.com/deception.html)

[klamath]

I fail to see how it only refers to Muslims, if that's what you're implying.

Where are the boots on the ground? Technically it is not meant to be a war on any one country or people but in real life what are people thinking when they say we have to win this war on terror? Are they talking about a skinhead club in Finland? I don't think so.

[dwdollar]

Where are the boots on the ground? Technically it is not meant to be a war on any one country or people but in real life what are people thinking when they say we have to win this war on terror? Are they talking about a skinhead club in Finland? I don't think so.



Again, what does it mean?

We haven't even defined it and we are trying to win it.

Tell me, how does one win the "War on Terror"?

[dwdollar]

The boots are all over the world. Pick a place.

[dwdollar]

The "War on Terrorism" isn't meant to dehumanize Muslims for the sake of killing them.

It's meant to be ambiguous and undefined. It's meant to divert attention from the real threats. It's meant to crush rebel forces wherever they might be. It's meant to change according to the whims of the masters. Most importantly, however, it's meant to never end.

[klamath]

The "War on Terrorism" isn't meant to dehumanize Muslims for the sake of killing them.

It's meant to be ambiguous and undefined. It's meant to divert attention from the real threats. It's meant to crush rebel forces wherever they might be. It's meant to change according to the whims of the masters. Most importantly, however, it's meant to never end.

You miss the whole point of the thread. This is about talking to individuals on why they can support something as horrible as war yet for the most part be good decent people. You are trying to argue a whole other subject. Reread the original thread and quit getting stuck on the phase "war on terror".
If people couldn't dehumanize others so quickly they wouldn't bow to the "whims of the masters" so easily. If the majority of the people are not supporting the war it will not last long. There was only one candidate, maybe two that truely would have gotten us out of the war. The American people rejected them.