Propaganda Hacker's Manifesto

A propaganda hacker is not a person who has set themselves against propaganda, but instead seeks to understand it through a systematic method and procedure by which they can see past the article of propaganda itself to view the intent and expected outcome of it's creators. A propaganda hacker, in a sense, is someone who attempts to see the future actions of the mass population being propagandized through recognizing past patterns and similarities in technique and reaction by the propagandists. What a propaganda hacker uses their information for is up to them. It can be imagined that this information is of great use to the people or the "mass man", as Edward Bernays likes to call them, leaning toward helping to release humanity of the bonds placed on the mind of it's capitulates. A propaganda hacker is a map-maker who realizes that all communication carries propaganda to someone's benefit and can place the inputs that he receives every day from hundreds of sources into concrete categories in order to further recognize emerging pattens in the system.

Propaganda hackers are truth-seekers and realists. They are not fatalists or conspiracy theorists. They understand the modalities and temporalities of propaganda and simply seek to be free of that propaganda with which they do not want to conform or congeal to. Propaganda hackers must be themselves free of the common ideas and tools used to separate the people through past propaganda techniques such as racism, nationalism, communism, capitalism, and prejudices in all forms. This is not a position, but a truth. For to be truly free of the mind-numbing and stagnating effects of the mass propaganda campaigns of the modern day, the hacker must put down his differences and see the reality that they are only tools to keep the mass man distracted and sedated into a stupor of unorganized and unfocused action on the basis of mass misinformation.

Is a propaganda hacker counter the Propagandist? No. The propaganda hacker realizes that in order to be of any help to his fellow human beings on earth, one of the best tools at his dispense is propaganda itself. If a propagandist were a programmer, a propaganda hacker would be the equivalent of a programmer who focuses on reverse engineering programs made by the former type. However, the hacker's use of propaganda is of a different type altogether. The hacker propagates information that is true, and not skewed, prejudiced or alarmist in any way. Pure objective information that serves only the point of noting observations and letting people come to their own free conclusions from what they are presented. This document and written effort counts as propaganda of that type. A propaganda hacker can even see through and analyze this document to discover the intentions behind it. All in all, the hacker should maintain transparency and consistency in how he analyzes and categorizes incoming propaganda.

I am proposing a community of Propaganda Hackers be started, and a Propaganda Hacker manifesto be forged in order to collectively explore and analyze the effects of the modernized, internet savy propaganda of today's world. I will be putting together a web site for this which includes this blog, as well as many other resources, tools, and exercises for propaganda hacking. I will continue to post to this blog with updated and relevant information while the site is in construction. I ask that you continue to share the information I have posted here, and continue to read past entries if you haven't already, as they are quite relevant to the conversation.

The propaganda hacking site will feature tools that read through, filter, and trend historical and incoming media communications, as well as conversational communications from websites such as twitter. It will feature analysis tools that use some of the methods we've discussed already, and new methods and categorizations I've been working on. It will be a community for propaganda hackers to share and create their ideas, theories, and analysis through a customized system focused on streamlining and standardizing the analytical process. If you have any ideas you'd wish to share for now, please comment.

Propaganda Analysis Primer: Part 2

This entry continues yesterday's entry: Beginning the Analysis: A Primer. So far we have covered the Ellul Index and the AR (Aristotelian Rhetoric) Index, for a more information about them see the last entry. In this entry we're going to talk about other forms of measuring using some of the categorization methods and propaganda techniques of Orwell, Bernays (a propagandist like aristotle), and other compiled categories. We'll discuss Ellul's definition of pre-propaganda and learn how to percieve it as it's coming in. I'll also be giving you an example of the analysis process using a U.S propaganda piece from 1950, (Height of McCarthyism movement,) released by Coronet Films about "Communism".

Let's talk first about Ellul's view on what is Pre-propaganda and the effects and usage of pre-propaganda and "myth". Ellul writes that no direct propaganda can be effective without pre-propaganda, which creates images, ambiguities and stereotypes apparently without any particular purpose. Pre-propaganda's initial objective is to prepare a person for a specific action. Ellul goes on to say, "It proceeds by psychological manipulations, by character modifications, by the createion of feelings or stereotypes useful when the time comes." Often propagandists use the technique of "myth" in their pre-propaganda campaigns. In his 1964 book, The Technological Society, Ellul explains "myth" as, "an all-encompassing, activating image: a sort of vision of desirable objectives that have lost their material, practical character and have become strongly coloured, overwhelming, all-encompassing, and which displace from the conscious all that is not related to it. Such an image pushes man to action precisely because it includes all that he feels is good, just, and true." Ellul goes on to say that eventually the myth will take possession of a mind, consecrating his life to it. Ellul says, "that effect can be created only by slow, patient work by all the methods of propaganda, not by any immediate propaganda operation."

The myths that I have found, including Ellul's myths are: Youth, the Hero, Progress, Science, Happiness, the Proletariat, the Furher (the leader or guide), and Society. Each of these myths can be seen in almost every "society" that we find ourselves as human beings in today. How many commercials are concecrated to the look of youth as equal to the look of beauty? How many times have there been movies and comics, and books about heros, (and superheroes,)? Did you know that Superman says you can Slap a Jap? How many times does the newspaper mention progress of this and progress of that as a society? Notice that things mostly stay the same for you from day-to-day life? Let's not even begin on the rest, because Pre-propaganda is a system that functions so naturally, if you really take the time to look within yourself, you'll see and remember the examples and images, stereotypes and ambiguities placed into your mind by pre-propaganda. Perhaps the most unnerving thing about these myths is the fact that they are Integrative, Sociological, Horizontal, and Irrational placing all myths at the extreme of virtual imperceptivity in the Ellul Index. As an exercise, try to look for and uncover conversations, commercials, and advertisements that play off of the myths implanted in your mind. It's not all too difficult, usually all one needs to do is bring up a conversation with a friend about the current war.

Another type of pseudo-prepropaganda as discovered by Orwell cover the use of techniques that collapse certain ideas or entire concepts and scenes into one word, or a simple phrase that is constantly thrown in the ear of the people of a society. This phrase or word usually has another meaning before the propagandist skews or spins it to change the meaning slightly. The word spreads through the people like wildfire and they use this word, themselves, with much regularity, to a point where everyone has forgotten the original meaning of the word. The word may even be re-written in the new releases of the dictionaries of the time. An example of today would be the word "terrorist." which will not be covered, but here's a link to a blog entry about this. Orwell calls this technique "DoubleSpeak". He even actually created a quarterly release detailing the use of DoubleSpeak. A good example of DoubleSpeak are the words "downsizing" and "layoff". These create a communication bypass in rationalization. There is now actually a dictionary of American DoubleSpeak created by Paul Wasserman which covers quite a large use of DoubleSpeak. Wasserman explains each word or term used and it's original meaning, sometimes citing examples of how it's used otherwise. He defines doublespeak as meaning "distortions and obfuscations and marketplace flim-flam." Doublespeak is not only used by the government controlled media, but almost all forms of commercial media. Here's an example of doublespeak excerpted from his dictionary: "Backward Country: This is not politically correct, and is a term banned in many educational publications, with developing country used in its place. The World Bank uses the acronym LICUS (low-income countries under stress) and the British government refers to those at the bottom of the heap as 'fragile.'" In the systematic analysis of an article of propaganda, it is important for the hacker to look out for and take note of the use of doublespeak and the original meaning of the doublespeak being used. This will point to clues about the original meaning behind vertical propaganda as well as horizontal.

At this point, it is highly recommended that you pick up a copy of Propaganda by Edward L. Bernays, written in 1928. Bernays is one of the pioneer propagandists of the 20th century and has proven all of his methods work and work well. He is the person responsible for the connecting his uncle Freud's work in psychology to the marketing world, along with the help of Anna Freud, his cousin. Together, they shaped the minds and habits of Americans in a lasting way. They literally created things such as "The American Dream", life styles, the entire practice and study of Public Relations, and many of the nuances and subtle persuasive tactics used today by governments around the world. Anna Freud was Mother of the Freudian psychoanalytic movement and when asked what her reason was for creating psychoanalytic splinter groups, she responded that nothing was as important as the movement, with the implication that even the truth was regarded as secondary to the movement. This is a tell tale sign of a propagandist. A hacker seeks to reveal the truth rather than obscure it. A good example and view of the lifestyles system from present day can be seen here.

It is important to realize the targeting techniques that go into a propagandists work, in order to be able to tell who the propagandist is targeting with their message. Some example targets that are widely used are: the working class, the intellectual, and the sportist (fans of modern sports [irrespective of different sports in different countries]) along with many other overlaping categorizations of targets. When a hacker knows the target, it is much easier to then extract other information about the intentions of an article of propaganda.

In order to tone and sharpen one's analytical abilities, one must first use some examples of how to use this system of propaganda analysis. An example I've chosen is a simple start.

Communism


Here's how I would rate it on both indexes, plus other extended info:
Ellul Index: PAHR
AR Index: P8-F10-C3
Notes: Irrational Undertones, Forensic placing guilt (hypocritical)
Tags: nationalism, counterpropaganda
DoubleSpeak words: freedom
Myths Used: American Way, Hero, Progress (American), The Proletariat

Notice the use of the question mark symbolism in the movie? Notice the use of facts to provide rational logic, the hypocricy of talking about the communist propaganda methods when this itself is a mind-molding propaganda campaign. Notice the finger pointing, notice how it seems like they're talking about the America of today in it's War on Terror "outright military aggression to extend their power."

I will be including more examples in later posts, as well as more methods for analyzing and categorizing propaganda so that you and other propaganda hackers can easily share information and ideas about discoveries you've made in the field. Please feel free to give your comment or example in the comments sections below.

Why Study Propaganda?

Over many hundreds of years, many nationalities, many cultures, races and creeds, propaganda has been used to excersize a measure of control over the people of the world. Not only have an elite few or "controllers" accessed this technology of communication, but every company nowadays that advertises participates in their own form of propaganda. Propaganda technique and methods of persuasion are used pervasively throughout our modern day society through conversation, media, the internet and schools. It would seem impossible that one could exist outside of this unseen phenomenon and viral spreading of ideas. That being stated, it has become important for one to understand the shape, size and intentions of the propaganda of today so that one may choose which propagated ideas to discard and which to further propagate, thus taking back control of his own habits and evolving as a person. This work has already been started by scholars throughout history such as Chomsky, Ellul, Nietzsche, Orwell, Camus, Canetti, Jaspers and many undeclared propaganda hackers of the last century. It is the goal of this blog to study and use these hacking methods, compilations, and techniques to unravel the web of modern day propaganda in an accurate and systematic manner. We seek to provide a primer by which other projects can be formed to truly free Humanity from the iron grip of some of the most successful of the contemporary propagandists.

It has been a common view to look at propaganda in only a top-down or vertical sense. For example, one may look at the information coming out of Israel or from the Hamas organization about Gaza as propaganda, or one may see an advertisement, or the nightly news, and deem it as such. What the layman does not think to look at the immerse web of horizontal or sociological propaganda that exists in it's many types, forms, and modalities. There are qualitatively and quantitatively more diverse propaganda techniques that get further polished each day by the hundreds of thousands of organizations and propagandists competing for attention on a global scale.

Why study propaganda? Studying it allows one to see past it in a sense, to the intentions of it's producers. One begins to unravel the rhetoric and slogans of his era and see the true nature of the influencers of the world and society. One begins to take back responsibility and control over his own attitudes, habits, and prejudices. Randal Marlin on page 22 of his book "Propaganda and the Ethics of Persuasion" proposes a semi-concrete definition of propaganda as such: "The organized attempt through communication to affect belief or action or inculcate attitudes in a large audience in ways that circumvent or suppress an individual's adequately informed, rational, reflective judgment." He goes on to say that the definition does not exclude as propaganda, "those methods of influencing others which anticipate that the propagandees will make use of their own reason and informed judgment to act in some way which the propagandist desires." Propaganda itself is usually used to turn a profit for those propagating the message or idea. To mold public opinion and organize it in such a way as to implant imagery and the formation of ideas in the minds of the people for later use.

Propaganda has been being used since the days of Rhetoric in Plato's Era, but it has grown into something quite different than oratorical rhetoric. Edward L. Bernays in his book entitled "Propaganda: The formation of Mens Attitudes" in 1923 gives us detail and insight as to how his flavor of propaganda has been used in America and Germany over the last century when he says, "There are invisible rulers who control the destinies of millions. It is not generally realized to what extent the words and actions of our most influential public men are dictated by shrewd persons operating behind the scenes." Clearly in Bernays' view of the world, there is the Leader and the Crowd, the Propagandist and the Masses or the (Mass Man). Bernays was the producer of multiple propaganda campaigns for the U.S government and large corporations, affecting major change in the way Americans spend money, think of products, and go about their daily life and habits. He is hailed as the father of the Public Relations Industry and was paid large sums of money from his clients throughout his life. Only through careful study of his technique can one begin to unravel what has happened to the minds and social circles of Americans for the last 80 years. His methods succeeded at replacing individual autonomy while turning the Mass into a machine which will react in a quite predictable way to the "pressing of a button." Goebbles, the infamous Minister of Propaganda for Hitler quotes and admires Bernays' work in the field during some of his more famous speeches.

Studying propaganda is the study of the way our minds as a whole are controlled by these "shrewd person" behind the curtain. To understand the form and flow, the patterns and textures of propaganda, one must study the many forms in which it exists currently and has existed in the past. One must draw lines of similarity between events previously experienced by society and todays events, through the lens of propaganda. The curtain must be raised, and the people's minds must be freed from the grips of those behind it if this world is ever to advance beyond this point. Edward Bernays is the type of person who would say and has said the opposite. People like him believe that without the propagandist, the world would fall into chaos and people would not advance humanity as a whole because people are, for the majority, idiots. That being said, there are quite a lot of ignorant and blind followings in the world today. Maybe they do need to be led, but by a real leader, not the Wizard of Oz.

It is in this vein that propaganda hacking finds it's roots, and in this essence that it will evolve. There have been both the Propagandist and the Propaganda Hacker for hundreds of years, but the former never received a proper title. Those who hack the propaganda of today are not people with degrees but people with tools and techniques that they share and discuss in their community. We only seek to understand the systems and methodologies by which our brains are intended to be controlled, and release ourselves from that control. We seek the ability to see as much of the true and vast picture of life as we can, and compile that information into a life free of the mental bars and barriers, and censorship set forth by those who would call themselves our rulers.

This blog is about the very core structures of Propaganda hacking, and is meant to supplement both the history and lessons learned by the major Propagandists as well as the Hackers. This is meant to supply people with a resource and a method within which to contribute and build a clear and concrete method of hacking or breaking down any article of propaganda, from a news article, to a TV show, to the headlines we read on the internet, to every day conversation and rhetoric. We will be using and evolving tools that we have created to perform these tasks and make them available to the common man. We will study and analyze technique throughout the ages of man that have been used and discuss ways to reverse-engineer them. We will build an open standard by which to systematize and automate the analysis of an article of propaganda, using current tools, and past patterns to uncover the intentions behind it's authors, and the effectiveness of it's campaign in our society.

Join our community by subscribing to the blog and give us your thoughts and observations about propaganda hacking. We are looking forward to hearing from you.