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There is one big difference. In North Korea you have only one point of view presented to the people - the point of view of the party. In democratic society you
by kia 16y ago
There is one big difference. In North Korea you have only one point of view presented to the people - the point of view of the party. In democratic society you can have and freely express an opposing point of view.
- noarchy 16y agoYou can try to. But realistically, you're up against Big Media, and while it is theoretically possible to compete against them, good luck trying. It's one thing to be able to freely express a point of view, but quite another to be in a position where anyone will actually see/her it.
- chrischen 16y agoThere are multiple viewpoints in big media too... There's also the Internet. It's pretty naive to think North Korea and the USA are the same in terms of propaganda.
- gloob 16y agoI don't think anyone in this thread is claiming they're the same - just that America has plenty of its own propaganda as well.
- espeed 16y agoWhere are people on the Internet getting their information that they repost on blogs and community sites? Is it from first-hand accounts and primary research, or are they just repeating what they heard from the news wires or cable news? Propaganda is about propagation of a meme, but where does it start? And how do you distinguish fact from fiction when the self-identified news networks intermingle news with opinions masquerading as facts?
- chrischen 16y agoBig media propagates its own messages. On the internet, if people repost on blogs they are propagating it themselves. > Propaganda is about propagation of a meme, but where does it start? And how do you distinguish fact from fiction when the self-identified news networks intermingle news with opinions masquerading as facts? I dunno. That's a good one. Now I know since I am one of the smartest .000000000001% of people in the United States (because I read Hacker News and engage in thoughtful discussions like this) I have the ability to identify the rational arguments made by independent sources when held up against the drivel from mass media. But you make a good point as the average american would probably be too stupid to make such discernments. They couldn't reason their way out of a box. In all seriousness, if you pound a rational argument equally as hard as an irrational one, the rational one I believe will always have the advantage. That's how you distinguish fact from fiction and it's predicated on the fact that the average person is intelligent enough to be rational. Yea people will head for the light that shines the brightest but they'll still try to head towards the one that looks less like a train heading towards them.
- espeed 16y agoOverall it's the emotionally-charged argument that usually prevails over the rational, unfortunately. That's why mass-marketing firms focus primarily on emotional appeals -- they appeal to a larger percentage of the audience.
- chrischen 16y agoWhat you said there is just opinion. How can you know that's true? Are you part of the audience that succumbs to emotionally charged message? And if you aren't, how can you say that others are? Isn't that presumptuous?