Flip floping.

Pandagon fearlessly critisize their future Ministry of Truth, the Sinclair Broadcast Group, and incidently reminds me that dumbing down may be after all, a viable option.

I remember having written at the same Pandagon, when i was young and optimistic, a few days ago, something to the effect "it would be dangerous to let the identity of a_conservative_hack_99 influence the way you recieve what he says." Broken clock right twice a day. Open minds of the left. Virtue. A false argument will anyway be teared apart by our razor sharp leftist minds, and Good and Order will be Restored, and there will be much rejoicing. All that.

The general tone of the discussion was such, and i agreed, mostly. Maybe not anymore.

It's that, having witnessed the clockwork propaganda machine that slowly dragged the u.s. to war, i find myself unable to think of media and opinion but in basical, mechanistic terms. Gummint wanted war, applied enough propaganda, got less pertinent of wars. That goering quote again.

It certainly means some kind of failure from the left bullshit detecting super powers. Granted, it doesn't justify yet the change of attitude i'm describing : the virtuous principle i once agreed with may be right and occasionally proven wrong. A big occasion maybe, but yet.

But discussing on the topic of propaganda, i saw that people are never concerned by it : "not for me". But propaganda at work doesn't tranforms you into a warmonger, it bring you a warmongering that may be acceptable from your standarts, no claws or horns spouting. You remain the same, simply, with your usual info feed simply carrying that same little bent.

Now, as a reasonable sentient being, you should be able to deal with that. Provided enough time you should be able to spot, analyze, cross check, filter, look around and finally make your mind. And you just can't. My theory is that it's on that individual impossibility that the depressing cause of propaganda produce its mass effect.

So provided unlimited time, you could be virtuous and perfectly open minded. Without it, we are leaving the firm grounds of Truth and Virtue, and you may as well include the source into your appreciation. I think the rush to war mechanics may have shown that you should. I think the sinclair case show that dark vador and the emperor know that propaganda works.

Hey! There's a microeconomic air to that best-option-under-time-constraint presentation that fits well the zeitgeist, i think, and being my easily satisfied self, i'm leaving it at that, dear reader.