Is your environment corrupted by propaganda? 10 questions for self-check
Press release from the GGI Initiative on October 24, 2023
Propaganda is once again omnipresent today and has an enormous impact on our everyday social interactions. Based on the work of a historian and journalist, the GGI initiative has put together ten self-reflection questions that everyone can use to find out whether their environment is influenced by propaganda. Shocking: Answering one of these questions with yes already speaks for it!
Propaganda check: 10 questions for self-reflection
The GGI initiative presents ten questions to help you determine whether you are in an environment saturated with propaganda. If you only answer yes to one of the questions below, you already have a strong suspicion. Given what has happened in recent years, the majority of questions can probably be answered in the affirmative. We hope that this orientation will be useful to interested readers – for themselves and for their social environment.
Introduction
A few years ago, the historian and journalist Stella Morabito raised ten questions about her personal situation in an essay. Answering yes to at least one of these questions is already a clear indication that you are in an environment saturated with propaganda. [1] We will now present these questions and update them with circumstances that have become commonplace in recent years.
truth or propaganda
#1: Is your natural curiosity suppressed? No matter whether it’s about global warming, the benefits of masks or the usefulness of vaccinations, taking sides in a war, questioning studies or anything else: If you are tormented by a question or concern, you don’t take it seriously, but loudly is interrupted, this is a clear sign that propaganda is intended to restrict diversity of opinion.
#2: Do you feel threatened by insults and labels? Do you risk being called a “tinfoil hat wearer”, “swearer”, “flat-earther” or worse if you simply express your personal view on the CO2 issue, the destruction of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline or homeopathy? If so, you’re in propaganda territory. Insults serve two purposes for propagandists: they stifle free inquiry and debate, and they manipulate psychologically for fear of being “tarred and feathered.”
#3: Do you fear exclusion for expressing a question or politically incorrect opinion? The threat of exclusion is probably the oldest manipulative mind control trick. We are programmed from an early age to avoid social isolation, which is why peer pressure is such a powerful force. That’s why solitary confinement is one of the most feared punishments. Giving in to peer pressure is often rooted in the primal human fear of loneliness. Do you still dare to express your critical opinion on gender or bring NATO into play in the Ukraine war?
#4: Do you notice a herd instinct in your environment towards conforming to political correctness? If others do not feel comfortable talking to you, if some topics are completely ignored, if some are overly cautious in their language and tone to avoid mentioning something commonly “unacceptable,” you are in a propaganda environment . Conversely, have you noticed in recent years that suddenly everyone is talking about solidarity and protection of vulnerable groups, even those who have never said a word about the health system before and have never stood out for their special care or empathy?
#5: Are you pigeonholed for a question or opinion? Today’s propaganda often deconstructs humanity using credit or passport systems that assess your level of privilege or oppression based on vaccination status, “low epidemiological risk,” or agreement with a narrative. On the surface, “health and solidarity” is intended to be promoted. However, your actual health and humanity are ignored and you are classified as either a threat or an egoist or a good person based on arbitrary criteria.
#6: Are you afraid of being considered crazy if you express your honest opinion? Gaslighting is a form of psychological abuse used by both violent criminals and cult leaders. This method is also used in propaganda. Gaslighting basically works on two tracks. On the one hand, you are supposed to doubt your sanity or at least believe that you are completely alone in your perception of the world. On the other hand, perpetrators make it a point to regulate and control their victims’ personal relationships, making them feel even more isolated and dependent. This affects, among other things, the victims of vaccination injuries, who are often considered psychiatric cases simply after expressing the suspicion that their symptoms are related to the vaccination.
#7: Are others offended by your opinions? If so, you are in a propaganda zone or a “question-free zone”. Emotional maturity has a lot to do with a person’s ability to adapt. But propagandists see this maturity as a threat to their plans. In fact, anything that promotes friendship or genuine understanding stands in the way of propaganda. Those who become outraged at the mere questioning of narratives—and thereby emotionally shut down—tend to be both propagandists and victims of propaganda themselves. How does your environment react when you point out that rainbow parades vastly overrepresent the concerns of a very small group of the population or that there are only two biological genders?
#8: Are you expected to give up your perception of reality to maintain someone else’s illusion? A good example of this is the call to wear masks in order to confirm others’ lack of sense of security and to feign solidarity. For some the mask is protection and the most gentle means, for others it is a symbol of providence and obedience. This is a prime example of propaganda messing with your mind by messing up everyone’s language. No common language, no common reality, no communication. In the end, people are even more isolated and no longer anchored in reality, which further destabilizes their self-confidence.
#9: Are you tempted to censor yourself or distort your beliefs in order to remain accepted in your community? These two reactions form a so-called “spiral of silence,” which creates the illusion of a change in opinion. It separates and isolates those who hold an opinion that runs contrary to the narrative. The others are tempted, for example, to keep quiet about their vaccination damage or to act as if they are convinced that their problems have other origins, out of fear of social rejection. Do you hold back from contradicting yourself when someone comes forward with absolute truths that have been verified by fact checkers, even though you know that they have not been done with much seriousness?
#10: Do you sometimes feel like you’re in a cult? We have all heard of people who obediently continue to wear masks and go for regular tests after the fourth vaccination, then become ill with Covid – sometimes even remarkably seriously – and still thank them for the vaccination, without which things would of course have gotten even worse . Propaganda worked very well here. It is cult-like in nature because it suppresses free inquiry and encourages complete conformity of thought. It also includes many characteristics of cults, including the use of deception, psychological manipulation, behavior modification, fallacies, divide-and-conquer tactics, social polarization, relational aggression, gaslighting, language control, and much more.
conclusion
A single yes answer to the above questions already indicates an environment riddled with propaganda. The vast majority of interested readers can probably answer all or almost all of the questions with yes.
Without a doubt, we continue to be exposed to an overwhelming amount of propaganda, especially the dangerous black form . The guide presented here is intended to make this a little more aware.
But how do you break the propaganda spiral? We will devote ourselves to answering this question in a future publication.
Sources
[1] Morabito S. Truth or Propaganda? Intercollegiate Studies Institute, 2016. online: https://isi.org/intercollegiate-review/truth-or-propaganda
Originally published: https://report24-news.translate.goog/ist-ihr-umfeld-durch-propaganda-verdorben-10-fragen-zum-selbst-check/?feed_id=34589&_x_tr_sl=auto&_x_tr_tl=de&_x_tr_hl=de&_x_tr_pto=wapp
