Mind control - is the government brainwashing the public?

[Winter wind]

No, because the government can barely control itself. In fact, it can't.

Though factions of it try to control the public mind (ads and such), it isn't a universal tactic.

[Rainbow]

Quote by: Winter wind No, because the government can barely control itself. In fact, it can't. Though factions of it try to control the public mind (ads and such), it isn't a universal tactic.

People brainwash themselves :-)
Am I correct ?

[Winter wind]

People brainwash themselves :-) Am I correct ?

Well, I guess.

[lsbskins1]

OMG, another one of these.

If the government was attempting to control minds, they obviously suck at it, because all you guys are convinced that they are attempting to control yours and have failed.

I don't believe they have any plans to control mine and I still don't trust that they ever tell me the truth when they can avoid it.

So, it seems to me, it's like being afraid that earthworms are attempting to take over the planet. They are obviously so incapable of achieving the goal, that it really doesn't matter if it is their goal.

[Winter wind]

Hahaha, this is the best argument against it.

[Walrus]

If anyone hasn’t seen it, a documentary that I feel relates to this topic is “The Power of Nightmares” a BBC film in three parts, produced by Adam Curtis. It is about how fear is used to control people and for political gain. It can be watched or downloaded from the internet.

One source is here but there may be better ones.
Internet Archive: Details: The Power of Nightmares

[The Bacon Guy]

We're certainly lied to on a regular basis by both the government and the media. You just have to look at something like the war on drugs to see this. Whether this is part of a government campaign of misinformation or whether the elected officials themselves are just stupid enough to believe the lies, I'm not sure.

[grandpa]

Quote by: The Bacon Guy We're certainly lied to on a regular basis by both the government and the media. You just have to look at something like the war on drugs to see this.

Of course they propagandize their agendas. Rarely are we discussing scientific viewpoints here, but ideological and subjective ideas regarding how we can be ruled. You could also consider the fight over free speech on the internet, and over creative rights generally. With technology, it's increasingly possible for everyone to have their own media. But certain organizations with power don't like it, so they seek to regulate things as best they can. Why is that? People with power want one view to dominate, and that's the view that's beneficial to them. This is also what advertising and public relations is about. To argue this isn't happening is simply absurd. We're talking about billion dollar industries here that tend to interlink. All bureaucracies have some kind of agenda, and, if it's some kind of scam, you're supposed to just "keep yer mouth shut" about it. A major trick of PR industries is to convince us that a scam isn't taking place, or even that one couldn't be.

Grandpa h.

[Rainbow]

Quote by: lsbskins1 If the government was attempting to control minds, they obviously suck at it, because all you guys are convinced that they are attempting to control yours and have failed. I don't believe they have any plans to control mine and I still don't trust that they ever tell me the truth when they can avoid it.

#1
The level of education is the form of brainwashing.
Lower level of education <---> greater chances for brainwashing

#2
In other words :
- government does not tell the truth
After years and/or decades of not telling the truth, a certain point of view is being created within a particular population.
That what brainwashing is all about : true vs. false
That is what any governing body does : keep a population within certain distance away from power, while creating an image of (so-called) co-governing a state by variety of fundamental ideological and philosophical altars supported by mass-media.
When some well-educated guys try to remove that image and replace it with the real one, mass-media enters the field. Dealing with a poorly educated society, mass-media reverses that image back, in order to upkeep a state's status quo. As the result : everybody is happy and life goes on, except for those well-educated guys. Years go by, and those well-educated guys - seeing no positive response from that population, switch their objectives and the whole case evaporates.
That is exactly what happens in almost every state.
Exception :
- revolution
- massive social movement
- etc.
Even though, as time elapses the whole situation normalizes and life goes on, back to its ab-normality.

P.S.
French Revolution is one of the best examples of brainwashing.
Times and dates changed. What else ? since Homo Sapiens remains the same ?

[Rainbow]

Quote by: Winter wind Well, I guess.

In certain way, that is correct.

[nerdvincent]

Ok, here is something nice.
Mass media destroying a new idea in the poorly-educated society's opinion, like Rainbow said.

[grandpa]

Quote by: nerdvincent Ok, here is something nice. Mass media destroying a new idea in the poorly-educated society's opinion, like Rainbow said.

Amazing. It's a cute little rewrite of history, for the most part

Grandpa h.

[lsbskins1]

Quote by: nerdvincent Ok, here is something nice. Mass media destroying a new idea in the poorly-educated society's opinion, like Rainbow said.

So, are you saying Communism works and the US government brainwashed everyone into believing it does not? If that is your point, you are just as crazy as the people you are calling crazy. It isn't like you only have two choices, either some extreme rightist version of government or some extreme leftist version. It isn't like any time some government agency puts out any piece of information it must be viewed as undeniably false. Lets be reasonable here. You must be willing to believe at any time that any institution may be misleading you and you must be willing to question any "authority", but that does not mean that if the government tells you that if you eat too much fat, it is bad for you, that it is a lie simply BECAUSE the information came from the government. It's like you all have to go flying from one extreme to the other.

[nerdvincent]

I'm communist. This is my opinion, and debating it is off-topic. I can find you some Soviet propaganda as well, don't worry. Communist doesn't mean pro-soviet.
What is funny is that they put their politic ideas through a cartoon to endoctrinate kids instead of waiting until they become mature and able to make their own choice. Wether it is "good propaganda" or not is a subjective matter, but in any case it remains propaganda.

[lsbskins1]

Quote by: nerdvincent I'm communist. This is my opinion, and debating it is off-topic. I can find you some Soviet propaganda as well, don't worry. Communist doesn't mean pro-soviet. What is funny is that they put their politic ideas through a cartoon to endoctrinate kids instead of waiting until they become mature and able to make their own choice. Wether it is "good propaganda" or not is a subjective matter, but in any case it remains propaganda.

The issue is not about debating Communism vs. Capitalism or Communism vs. Democratic-Republics, the issue is whether or not the cartoon is an example of brainwashing propoganda that attempts to conceal fundemntal truths from the citizens it wants to influence and therefore causes them to make choices that harm their own interests. Please explain to me what fundemental truth it hides.

[thx1138]

We have all been brain-washed from the craddle to the grave, whether you like it or not, whether you believe or not.

Monarch One 45min

Evidence of Revision - Google Video

Evidence of Revision 5 CIA part 3 Jim Jones

Evidence of Revision 5 CIA part 3 Jim Jones

[Chaossaber314]

Quote unquote brainwashing? No. In terms of manipulation / propaganda / and advertising I think it's more a corporate phenomenon than a governmental one.