Sophisticated propaganda is designed to radicalize people into having an emotional reaction to something before they have a chance to think rationally.

Many US citizens experienced an outpouring of emotion over Tank Man 37 years ago, and now all you have to do is wave around a picture of Tank Man and reflexively blue flames start shooting out of American asses and they go into conniptions and start howling like rabid Meerkats. They've been radicalized.

So long as Tank Man still works, US state media will keep using it. It doesn't have to be a lie. The important thing is that it's hard to reason someone out of a position they didn't reason themselves into.

Chinese and Iranian propaganda is not nearly as effective as in the US can, where the advertising industry alone spends a half-trillion dollars annually in an effort to fool people into doing things they wouldn't normally do. It is an art and a science.

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linkregister 6 days ago | parent [-]

This post: "If you have an emotional reaction to the symbol of a mass murder in the Beijing city square, you've been radicalized"

Same account 2 days ago: "Mark Zuckerberg and Meta are complicit in the Rohingya genocide"[1]

I knew I would find a contradictory post within the first page, because this account has the hallmarks of a troll.

1. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47640251

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Fricken 6 days ago | parent [-]

Bringing up Meta's complicity in the Rohingya Genocide on HN is like bringing up the Nanking Massacre in Japan, it's not a responsibility anyone is going to face, I get it. I brought it up in a thread about the careless things Meta has done so it was on point.

One thing to keep in mind is that neither Japan, China or Iran have been engaged in any imperial misadventures lately. If you haven't noticed, one theme that has been dominating world affairs as of late is the absolute shitshow that is the American political situation.

Iran is a literate nation and the US is blowing up universities and schools. Call me a troll but that's all some super depraved stuff going on right now so forgive me if I'm not particularly sensitive to the feelings of the people who are cheering for it.

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linkregister 6 days ago | parent [-]

Iran is well-known for extensive interference in its neighbors' political systems. It has funded and armed opposition groups with billions of dollars of assistance (Hezbollah, Hamas, Houthis). Educational institutions in literate countries have been bombed by Iranian proxies.

The Chinese government invaded Indian territory within the last year. It directs its naval auxiliaries to harass civilian vessels from Vietnam and Philippines. According to your world view it doesn't qualify —authoritarian nations may harm their own denizens as long as it's not expeditionary— but residents of Xinjiang are routinely rounded up and imprisoned.

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