Think about the things you see, hear, and read. What is the agenda of the newscast you watch at night, the Presidential debate broadcast on television, or the repeated use of words like terrorism, weapons of mass destruction, and evil.

I think it is easy for all of us to get caught up in rhetoric and persuasive speech - myself included. Consider this horrific experiment described by my Humanities professor (and paraphrased by yours truly).

If you were to put a frog in a frying pan with cold water and heat it very slowly, the frog would not jump out. Since it is cold-blooded and the water is warming its body, it would not realize it was in danger until it's too late. Being cooked alive would be its gruesome fate.

Are we disillusioned like the frog and unable to see the frying pan we're all sitting in? The world political climate is certainly heating up - just how close is it to boiling?

Adolf Hitler actually wrote a little bit about propaganda and we just finished reading and discussing it in my Humanities class (Mein Kampf, 1923-1924; trans. My Struggle).

Think about the things you see and hear everyday when you pick up your newspaper, scroll through your news reader, or turn on the evening news. Does Hitler's views on propaganda remind you of marketing in America (commercial and political)? It did for me - and that's kind of creepy.

"Particularly the broad masses of the people can be moved only by the power of speech."

I think that's agreeable; nothing earth-shattering here. We've all seen evangelists swindle the faithful masses out of their money. Or how about Hitler persuading a nation to tolerate and carryout genocide? Speech can be very persuasive.

"...without the mighty force of the mass of a people, no great idea, however lofty and noble it may seem, can be realized."

Agreed.

"All propaganda must be popular and its intellectual level must be adjusted to the most limited intelligence among those it is addressed to. Consequently, the greater the mass it is intended to reach, the lower its purely intellectual level will have to be.

Whoa! Are you calling us stupid? Better yet, how many times have you heard George Bush called stupid or an idiot? My colleague's favorite Bush-ism is, "Foreign oil is imported!" Maybe Bush is acting stupid on purpose? Maybe he's not stupid at all, but rather, just appealing to the masses?

"The receptivity of the great masses is very limited, their intelligence is small, but their power of forgetting is enormous. In consequence of these facts, all effective propaganda must be limited to a very few points and must harp on these in slogans until the last member of the public understands what you want him to understand by your slogan."

OK, who isn't familiar with the terms terrorism, Al Qaeda, War on Terror, Axis of Evil, evil, or weapons of mass destruction?

I wouldn't go so far as to compare George Bush and his administration to Adolf Hitler, but I would speculate that Bush is a master of propaganda as much as Hitler was.

Just think about it. He did get re-elected in 2004 didn't he? Guess his stupidity was able to appeal to the masses. And don't think your favorite 2008 candidate is oblivious to these techniques. Do some research on how much money they will be spending on their propaganda. So much for democracy huh?

What are you thankful for?

I urge you to take stock of all the positive things in your life. Too often we focus on the things that go wrong or just aren't going right in our lives. Granted life can suck pretty bad sometimes, but there is usually something that we can appreciate and relish in a little to at least lift our mood.

But rather than do this just today, try this every day. You'll be surprised just how much a positive attitude and a little reflection can change your outlook and how you experience the world around you.

Now that you've taken stock, why don't you sit back and stuff your tummy full of food? That's what I'll be doing. Happy Thanksgiving!

"I see neither the developing catastrophe nor the smoking gun proving that human activity is to blame for most of the warming we see." -- John Christy, Wall Street Journal Op-Ed

To which Al Gore responds,

"...part of the challenge the news media has had in covering this story is the old habit of taking the 'on the one hand, on the other hand' approach. There are still people who believe that the earth is flat. But when you're reporting on a story like the one you're covering today, where you have people all around the world, you don't search out for someone who still believes the earth is flat and give them equal time." -- Al Gore

I'm just really surprised to hear Al Gore say something like this. He spends a great deal of page real estate in his book Assault on Reason describing how big media doesn't give equal time to smaller voices. Now that he's the big man with the Nobel Peace Prize, does he get to decide who the media should give time to and who they shouldn't?

One would think that an opposing voice, no matter how irrational, is a positive thing - it continues the conversation and keeps the issue at the forefront of people's minds. His objection to a discordant voice makes me question his motives.

The article concludes with Al Gore's assertion that the climate crisis can still be solved. I have a hard time swallowing that we are the major contributors to the current state of the Earth's climate. I have a very hard time believing that we can affect the climate in a way that is counter to the current trends and changes.

I think we can be more responsible with regards to our impact on the environment, but the Earth has been here for a long time and will most likely continue to change and flux regardless of what Al Gore believes or what is the current scientific consensus. We humans tend to be really full of ourselves - don't we?

Links:
Gore: Don't give equal time to someone who believes the earth is flat