4 ms·

The government runs propaganda campaigns (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Youth_Anti-Drug_Media_Campaign http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Youth_Anti-

by jlgreco 13y ago

The government runs propaganda campaigns (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Youth_Anti-Drug_Media_Campaign http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Youth_Anti-Drug_Media_...) to convince people like your mother that drugs are the worse thing imaginable. Those people then turn around and support the government in its opposition to drugs. So why do they want to convince the public that drugs need to be pursued in the first place? If they were merely responding to pressure from the public, then that would be one thing, but they are fueling that sentiment. They want the public to think that way. Do they want to sway the public because they are themselves 'true believers'? Or are there less noble motivations? I suspect it is a combination of both.

engrenage 13y ago
The government fuels positive sentiment around pretty much all of its policies. It doesn't go round saying 'our policies suck' because that would provide an opening to opposition.
- jlgreco 13y ago
  I don't see many television commercials for, say, the USDA's Rural Development programs. The absence of such television ads isn't them saying that those programs suck either. Being quite about it is the default position, spending many millions on primetime television ad spots to push it is exceptional.
soup10 13y ago
I suspect the root of it is that drugs make individuals respect authority less, so naturally to protect it's power government opposes the use of drugs. Rationalization takes care of the rest(play up the negative aspects of drug usage, downplay the positive aspects of usage and legalization).
rayiner 13y ago
As I've said before, I think the power of marketing is less extensive than regularly believed. If the government could create demand for the drug war, then Microsoft could've made Windows RT happen... My mom, who isn't a native English speaker, doesn't consume American media. And her Indian movies aren't being interrupted by ads for a Drug Free America. The fact is that prohibition is a natural tendency in many societies. Whether its Jews not eating shrimp or Muslims not drinking alcohol, prohibitions have existed since long before modern marketing campaigns. In the U.S., prohibition of alcohol was not the result of government propaganda and powerful interests, but a grass roots movement, fully supported by women in particular. Just as that generation saw alcohol as an attack on their husbands, this generation of mothers sees marijuana as an attack on their teenagers.
- jlgreco 13y ago
  So your mom didn't lap up Nancy Reagan's "Just say no."? "Just say no" was a propaganda campaign and you rightly describe it as widely influencing the population. Somebody told your mom that "pot causes young men to give up on life and not get jobs or girlfriends and just play video games all day", she didn't dream that up all by herself.
  - tptacek 13y ago
    Um, I hate to be the one to tell you this, but pot really does cause some young men to "give up on life" (whatever that means) and not get jobs or girlfriends and just play video games all day. There actually is a such thing as a stoner. I don't hate them or want to outlaw them or anything, but they do exist. Nancy Reagan didn't invent them.
    - deleted 13y ago
      [deleted]
    - ferdo 13y ago
      I've known kids that give up on life, not get jobs and play video games all day without weed. Weed isn't the problem here. The kid and/or his family is generally the problem.
    - jlgreco 13y ago
      Typical strawman from tptacek; I am not disputing that pot, alcohol, television, or plain laziness sometimes cause people to become burntout bums. The myth is that all, or even most, people who smoke pot become burnout hippy bums and that it is a phenomenon uniquely caused by pot. You are both absolute lunatics if you think government run propaganda campaigns have nothing to do with that perception. Let's review: 1) rayiner describes the 'status quo' as stereotyping pot users, calls out media campaigns as one cause of this, and calls out his mother specifically as an example of this.[1] 2) I agree with rayiner.[2] 3) rayiner does not like it when people agree with him, and backpedals.[3] 4) I call him out for backpedaling.[4] 5) You "jump into the fray" damn near a day after rayiner's comment with a red herring large enough to make a professional fisherman blush. Try reading the goddamn conversation before tagging in for your buddy. [1] "The votes come from everyone who bought into Nancy Reagan's "Just Say No" campaign. People like my mom, who thinks pot causes young men to give up on life and not get jobs or girlfriends and just play video games all day, and supports keeping it illegal because she thinks that's bad for the country." [2] "The government runs propaganda campaigns (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Youth_Anti-Drug_Media_... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Youth_Anti-Drug_Media_...) to convince people like your mother that drugs are the worse thing imaginable. Those people then turn around and support the government in its opposition to drugs." [3] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6233377 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6233377 [4] "So your mom didn't lap up Nancy Reagan's "Just say no."?"

by jlgreco 13y ago

engrenage 13y ago

The government fuels positive sentiment around pretty much all of its policies. It doesn't go round saying 'our policies suck' because that would provide an opening to opposition.

jlgreco 13y ago
I don't see many television commercials for, say, the USDA's Rural Development programs. The absence of such television ads isn't them saying that those programs suck either. Being quite about it is the default position, spending many millions on primetime television ad spots to push it is exceptional.

soup10 13y ago

I suspect the root of it is that drugs make individuals respect authority less, so naturally to protect it's power government opposes the use of drugs. Rationalization takes care of the rest(play up the negative aspects of drug usage, downplay the positive aspects of usage and legalization).

rayiner 13y ago

As I've said before, I think the power of marketing is less extensive than regularly believed. If the government could create demand for the drug war, then Microsoft could've made Windows RT happen... My mom, who isn't a native English speaker, doesn't consume American media. And her Indian movies aren't being interrupted by ads for a Drug Free America. The fact is that prohibition is a natural tendency in many societies. Whether its Jews not eating shrimp or Muslims not drinking alcohol, prohibitions have existed since long before modern marketing campaigns. In the U.S., prohibition of alcohol was not the result of government propaganda and powerful interests, but a grass roots movement, fully supported by women in particular. Just as that generation saw alcohol as an attack on their husbands, this generation of mothers sees marijuana as an attack on their teenagers.

jlgreco 13y ago
So your mom didn't lap up Nancy Reagan's "Just say no."? "Just say no" was a propaganda campaign and you rightly describe it as widely influencing the population. Somebody told your mom that "pot causes young men to give up on life and not get jobs or girlfriends and just play video games all day", she didn't dream that up all by herself.
- tptacek 13y ago
  Um, I hate to be the one to tell you this, but pot really does cause some young men to "give up on life" (whatever that means) and not get jobs or girlfriends and just play video games all day. There actually is a such thing as a stoner. I don't hate them or want to outlaw them or anything, but they do exist. Nancy Reagan didn't invent them.
  - deleted 13y ago
    [deleted]
  - ferdo 13y ago
    I've known kids that give up on life, not get jobs and play video games all day without weed. Weed isn't the problem here. The kid and/or his family is generally the problem.
  - jlgreco 13y ago
    Typical strawman from tptacek; I am not disputing that pot, alcohol, television, or plain laziness sometimes cause people to become burntout bums. The myth is that all, or even most, people who smoke pot become burnout hippy bums and that it is a phenomenon uniquely caused by pot. You are both absolute lunatics if you think government run propaganda campaigns have nothing to do with that perception. Let's review: 1) rayiner describes the 'status quo' as stereotyping pot users, calls out media campaigns as one cause of this, and calls out his mother specifically as an example of this.[1] 2) I agree with rayiner.[2] 3) rayiner does not like it when people agree with him, and backpedals.[3] 4) I call him out for backpedaling.[4] 5) You "jump into the fray" damn near a day after rayiner's comment with a red herring large enough to make a professional fisherman blush. Try reading the goddamn conversation before tagging in for your buddy. [1] "The votes come from everyone who bought into Nancy Reagan's "Just Say No" campaign. People like my mom, who thinks pot causes young men to give up on life and not get jobs or girlfriends and just play video games all day, and supports keeping it illegal because she thinks that's bad for the country." [2] "The government runs propaganda campaigns (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Youth_Anti-Drug_Media_... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Youth_Anti-Drug_Media_...) to convince people like your mother that drugs are the worse thing imaginable. Those people then turn around and support the government in its opposition to drugs." [3] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6233377 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6233377 [4] "So your mom didn't lap up Nancy Reagan's "Just say no."?"