Demons and Walls: Propaganda and the Donald

Demons and Walls

Casting foreigners as demons is an ancient practice. People have been persecuted for their race, religion, nationality or political opinions since time immemorial.  Living in the 21st century we ought to be immune to the transparent manipulation of  mass media, but we seem to be more susceptible than ever to overt propaganda. 

George Orwell anticipated the effects of mass propaganda in his masterwork 1984: the ministry of truth creates lies, the most popular of which is the "2 Minute Hate," the de rigueur program on the ubiquitous telescreens where Big Brother rules supreme.

Big Brother reassures the public. He is watching. The country is in a constant state of war; against Oceania or Eurasia, it doesn't matter. The important thing is to unify the populace against the "other." The "enemies of the people" are everywhere.  We must  stand united against the enemy of the people. War is Peace. Freedom is Slavery. Ignorance is Strength.

Orwell was impressed with the ability of propaganda to turn truth on its head.  Of course he wrote 1984 in 1948, almost 70 years ago. His telescreen is a real device now. You may be holding it in the palm of your hand. According to revelations by security analysts, government intelligence agencies have the capacity to vacuum up all electronic communications and sift through the data, keeping a close eye on e-mail, twitter, and facebook accounts. Big Brother is watching.

And we are happy to be watched, since it is for our own security. I'm old enough to remember when airplane travel was a luxury. No one would question you for taking shampoo or a ukulele on TWA back in the 1960s. We were allowed to exercise first amendment rights in the airports and sell books and discuss ideas. Not any more. Here in Mexico, my personal belongings are not only scanned, inspected and checked at the bus station on the way to the airport, but curbside at the airport, as well as at checkin, and before getting on the plane. 

I must remove my shoes and my jacket and place them in plastic containers to be x-rayed. My money, passport, keys, and all the contents of my pockets are emptied, x-rayed and inspected. Laptop and cell-phone apart. And then a body scan and perhaps a personal body check. Then the documents again, even after they have been registered on the computer any number of times. But this is to protect me against the "enemy," so I happily submit to the constant inspection.

But for this to work, there must really be an enemy. Otherwise why am I allowing all this invasion of my privacy?

And so the media obliges by creating a monster, the demon "enemy."

And who is the "enemy?"

We might be worried about disease. Sooner or later we all get sick. Or death. Death is the inevitable enemy of us all. But the power structure is not concerned with solving the problem of death. We are told there is a far worse enemy: immigrants. People.

In order that I believe that the "security" measures taken to invade my privacy and keep me under control are really worth following, I need to believe that I'm being protected against a terrible enemy. In the United States the terrible enemy are "immigrants, " called "illegals," by demagogues, as if overstaying your visa converts you into a  dangerous criminal. Of course w'ere not worried about Italians or Englishmen or Canadians. What terrifies most are the citizens of Mexico.

While the United States shares a long history with its neighbour to the South, Mexico is considered "exotic," because the people there are dark-skinned and speak a foreign language. Obviously it isn't politically correct to be openly racist, but "terrorists" are identified as brown people who have foreign accents and since most people from Mexico have a good suntan and speak English with a foreign accent, they fit the stereotype.  

Racial Stereotype "Speedy Gonzalez"

Now we are in an election year. It isn't possible to talk about American poverty, sickness and death. These are not good election issues. Perhaps we could ask how a society based on selfishness, lust, and greed can take care of its citizens. But that's not on the agenda. 

Instead of asking how long we can continue burning all the fuel on the planet, killing animals and making thousand of species endangered and extinct; instead of asking how long can we make war to continue exploiting resources in an orgy of selfishness and greed, the burning question is: Who is the new demon and how do we build more walls to keep him out?

The media blandly report the need for walls as if it were a settled question. But walls solve nothing. Walls are useless to keep people in or out. Ask Chapo Guzman, the Mexican drug lord who recently tunneled out of prison, the same drug lord who has created thousands of tunnels under the border wall.

Ask the Chinese if the Great Wall kept the Middle Kingdom free from invaders and demons. 

What did Reagan say about the Berlin Wall? How could anyone be so stupid or naive as to believe that a wall serves as a sufficient barrier in the 21st Century to save us from demons? 

How fitting that an exploitive millionaire like Donald Trump sees himself as the ruler of a capitalist society bent on avoiding the consequences of centuries of exploitation. 

He reminds me of no one less than Slim Pickens as Major "King" Kong, riding an atom bomb to oblivion in Dr. Strangelove.

Yippeee!!!