when is propaganda not propaganda? when i was a child during the cold war period i questioned my teacher?

Question

when she was going on and on about how the communist russians constantly bombarded their citizens with propaganda about how we Americans were evil capitalists who were only interested in world dominance...when the teacher said "but kids, we know who the real evil people who only want world dominance are, don't we, it's the communists" I raised my hand and asked "I don't understand, isn't what you're telling us propaganda also"? Man, i was rushed to the principals office and they wanted to know what i was being taught at home, etc...i was in 5th grade, and my family was about as apolitical as they came.. in those days kids were not allowed to be thinkers or question anything.....

Answer 1

Wow I am of your generation too , I guess the difference must be in where you lived. In our school we were encouraged to question things and find answers and even have debates on certain issues. And at home my mom was the greatest. She always told us that we had a right to our own opinions and we had every right to speak our minds and even if she did not agree with our agenda she openly challenged anyone who tried to not allow us to speak openly on our convictions. the only rule she made us follow here was we did not have the right to be disrespectful of someone simply because they had every right to have their own opinion just as we did. I loved the controversy and protests and convictions and morals of the people back then, As one of WE THE PEOPLE in this country today I am scared to death that we may never have a free election again. I don't think Mr Bush won any election ever. We need to have a paper vote and post the results outside of each precinct. I think it is the only way. The answer to your question it is all propaganda it is a long word for opinion.

Answer 2

Propaganda is not propaganda when
(1) It is true, and
(2) It is part of a balanced view.

So, is it propaganda to say the some Palestinians use terror in their fight against Israel, probably not.

But if this is ALL that is said without any mention of the effect of Israeli policies on Palestinians then it is propaganda.

So, only to hear of the Communist actions in the Cold War was, in effect propaganda.

For example, did your teacher tell you how the USA surrounded the USSR with nuclear missiles, sometimes within a few miles of its borders but went apeshit when Kruschev tried to put some on Cuba.

It is not that Kruschev was right just that you needed to see the whole picture. Similarly to us in the West the bombing of an airliner over Lockerbie was a hideous act of terrorism, but to a young Arab it could be interpreted as a quid pro quo for an Arab airliner shot down by a US warship.

So propaganda, my friend, may be true or not, but it is ALWAYS an unbalanced view of the world.

Answer 3

The United States Constitution was an Egalitarian document for affluent white people only and that includes all of the signers of independence. We have forgotten that poor white people,YES poor white people,were ignored completely. It has taken over two hundred years for the US Constitution to apply for everyone.

This cherished document use to apply only the federal level,meaning the states could screw poor people and non-whites just as long as the US Federal government and agencies were not get interfered with.

The US was equally an imperialist like the Soviet Union. Do you remember "Manifest Destiny" ? It was the reason why the USA took over of what is now known as the USA.

Your teacher just wanted blind obedience. America was found when the colonists began to question the English,so what you did made you more American than a lot of idiotic Americans that vote without asking questions. If Americans love America then question to better the USA to ensure what we preach gets done.

Barry Goldwater was a conservative libertarian.

Answer 4

Yes, it was probably propaganda, but now we know from history, that most of it was probably true.

Here's my own propaganda. My brother married a woman from Russia about 5 years ago. She was also given the propaganda that America was evil and would start a war, and decadent, etc.

Yet when she was a teenager, they all ignored it, listening to American rock-n-roll, wearing American branded t-shirts and hats. They knew no matter how much propaganda was fed to them, that America was great.

Answer 5

You should have been spanked for your insolence. You were merely smarting off implying that the Communist Holocaust never occured when, in fact, we know that Communist killed 100 million people. You should have had some respect for the millions of victims, but were probably too stupid to know what you were saying.

Hopefully your parents names were forwarded to the HUAC (House Un-American Activities Committee) as possible communist sympatheizers.

Answer 6

I think that for the first time in history, young people are confused about what it means to be patriotic. I'm not sure what to make of it.

But the bottom line for me, is I'm an American first. Therefore, any anti-American sentiment is propaganda.

Answer 7

it's probably even worse, now.