Psychopolitics

As the electioneering clatters on it is perhaps worth considering a topic closely association with politics – the use of Propaganda.

Techniques involving propaganda can be very extreme indeed and for that reason we have attached so you can download, a Soviet manual on Brainwashing.  SEE THE BOTTOM OF THE ARTICLE TO DOWNLOAD.  

Propaganda is a form of communication aimed towards influencing the attitude of a population toward some cause or position. There are two types of Propaganda, White Propaganda & Black Propaganda. The former generally more gentle and persuasive and used for public good, the latter more associated with lies or disinformation.

Spin is a more negative aspect of propaganda that came from the ‘public relations’ industry.  

Politicians are often accused by their opponents of claiming to be honest and seek the truth while using spin tactics to manipulate public opinion.

The use of disinformation in politics is ‘as old as the hills itself’.

Themistocles was a brilliant Greek politician whose actions in persuading the public to enlarge the Navy undoubtedly saved his nation when the Persians under

According to Themistocles' biographer Plutarch of Chaeronea, the young man "was of a vehement and impetuous nature, of a quick apprehension, and a strong and aspiring bent for action and great affairs"

In the year 483/482, a vein of silver was discovered near Laurion, east of Athens. Under normal circumstances, the state would have given every citizen a sum of money and would have leased out the mining rights. Themistocles, however, proposed to use the money to build warships. The war between Athens and Aegina had already lasted several years, and Themistocles argued that the Athenian ships were no match for the larger fleet of the enemy.

The Greeks had had already defeated the Persians and were unlikely to appreciate the extent of the threat.

The Athenian People's Assembly accepted this argument, but many must have seen through the proposal. In the east, the Persian king Darius had been succeeded by his son Xerxes, who had ordered a full-scale expedition against the Greeks. His engineers were already digging a canal through the Athos (text), and it was easy to understand that Xerxes wanted to use a very large fleet to support his army during the invasion of Greece. Themistocles' shipbuilding program was directed against Persia, not Aegina.

The Persians defeated the Spartans, the legendary 300 at the ‘Hot Gates’ the Battle of Thermopylae and overran the Greek mainland but in the naval engagement at Salamis the Greeks lured Xerxes fleet into a narrow strait where their superior numbers proved useless and the Persian ships with all their food and supplies was destroyed forcing them to retire from Greece.  

The use of propaganda in politics is nothing new but by reading the Soviet Manuel on Brainwashing and their thoughts on Psychopolitics is a good place to start.

Later we may talk about the development of propaganda in the UK. The Tavistock Institute of Human Relations and Edward Louis James Bernays (1891 − March 9, 1995) an Austrian-American pioneer in the field of public relations and propaganda, referred to in his obituary as "the father of public relations".

We see over three thousand advertisements a day and watch nine hours of screen time from TV to mobile phones.

If you think your opinions are yours, you may need to think again.

Compiled with help from Wikipedia