Propaganda in a Democratic Society - by Aldous Huxley

Propaganda in a Democratic Society
by Aldous Huxley

<Bits and pieces>

But in the immediate future there is some reason to believe that the punitive measures of 1984 will give place to the reinforcements and manipulations of Brave New World.

There are two kinds of propaganda - rational propaganda in favor of action that is consonant with the enlightened self-interest of those who make it and those to whom it is addressed, and non-rational propaganda that is not consonant with anybody's enlightened self-interest, but is dictated by, and appeals to, passion.

Propaganda in favor of action dictated by the impulses that are below self-interest offers false, garbled or incomplete evidence, avoids logical argument and seeks to influence its victims by the mere repetition of catchwords, by the furious denunciation of foreign or domestic scapegoats, and by cunningly associating the lowest passions with the highest ideals, so that atrocities come to be perpetrated in the name of God and the most cynical kind of Realpolitik is treated as a matter of religious principle and patriotic duty.

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Additional Audio gem

March 20, 1962. 45 minute taped lecture followed by a Q&A session. Aldous Huxley Explains his view on how the powers-that-be attempt to persuade the populace into consenting to the current state of affairs which may be unpleasant. Listen carfully to the Q&A a student brings up the mass media.