Saturday 31 August 2013

The Age of Propaganda

Propaganda are like a virus. They enter through the eyes and ears, anchor in our head or heart, then grow and spread. Once in a while they turn epidemic, with devastating effects. 

It has been said that modern propaganda were invented in WW-I. Caricatures, novels, and poems assisted recruitment to excellent effect. Newsreels from the front was a sensational innovation. Total WW-I casualties reached 35 million. Most died without having asked why. It was unpatriotic and cowardly to question. 

Most atrocities since then had at least been partially fuelled by mass propaganda. Millions of ordinary folks had been induced to murder by surprisingly simplistic slogans. Posthumous propaganda such as cowboy movies and Islamophobic hate messages are arguably more heartless. Is it not enough to destroy a community unprovoked without demonising the dead and their children?

A scary fact about New Age Propaganda is their transient and “entertaining” nature. As long as a sensational lie is believed for the time being, when it’s needed, subsequent uncovering carries little if any consequence. The International Community’s atrophied attention and memory spans have apparently shrunk shorter than its moralising sermons. The Gulf of Tonkin conned the American people into an atrocious war. More than a million Vietnamese were killed. Tens of thousands of American young men died for nothing. The false-flag operation had since been declassified. So?

面对现代化政治宣传


宣傳有如病毒,可以在我們的腦細胞繁殖滋長,甚至發展為瘟疫,為害無窮。

以前的統治者們由於有上帝支持,奉天承運,或許身上流著世世代代內部通婚積聚下來的貴族淤血,一切理所當然,無容置疑。宣傳對他們來說作用不大。所以政治宣傳通常都是搞造反的人們的玩意而已。

有人說第一次世界大戰是轉捩點。英國政府利用宣傳發動人民參軍,與不久之前還是皇親國戚的德國拼命。當時的宣傳手法簡單:只不過一些把德軍描繪成凶殘暴虐的海報和小說,和激勵戰鬥心的詩詞等等而已。最先進的是首次利用電影播放聯軍在前線英勇作戰和犧牲的片段,哄動一時。

歐洲看宣傳看得滿腔熱血的後果,是四年間死傷三千五百萬人。他們把生命斷送之余,來不及問一句整場戰爭因何而打。當時來說,誰有疑問誰就是奸細懦夫,可以被 扣上手銬送上戰壕。而衝動的不單只頭腦簡單的粗人。不少貴族學院精英,也唱著校歌衝向德軍的機槍陣地,硬著頭皮吃子彈。「一戰」之中,窮的富的,貴族與賤 民,一律踴躍當兵,爭相捐軀。

在「一戰」之中,統治者發現了一個新的大殺傷力武器:政治宣傳。

自此以後,很多大規模暴行都依靠政治宣傳來爭取廣泛支持,加大破壞力度。但貴族們經過「一戰」教訓,學懂了君子動口不動手,開始遠離前線,站到炮火射程之外指手劃腳。

Saturday 10 August 2013

The Democracy Mission - A Conspiracy Theory



Amid the overwhelming Democracy narratives, even sensible skeptics tend to echo apologetically: “Of course we support Democracy! Who doesn’t? Just that our folks ain’t ready yet. Too stupid and uneducated you see. Sorry sorry. One day soon!” This unthinking concession, mostly a reaction to the intimidating pressure wave generated by an enormous propaganda turbine, is irrational and contrary to facts. The long-term effects of repeating the hypnotic mantra of Democracy include loss of judgement as well as the confidence to say black is black. 

What people should strive for is good governance, and a reasonably fair, rational, sustainable and civil society (which depends on the people as much as their government), NOT an ostensibly participatory Democracy controlled by greed, dominated by corrupt politicos and financial charlatans. The Chinese, having learnt numerous lessons in their long history, should feel qualified to explore a feasible balance for themselves. 

Whatever the merits of democracy, I’m more curious about its evangelical preachers. 

Democracy is a vague term, like “Christendom”, “Islamic World”, or “the West”.  Besides the democratic banner, the political landscapes of the USA, Afghanistan, Iraq, Japan, India. . . don’t share many common features. In the end, I suspect Democracy could be fantastic for some, at some point in time, and disastrous for others, under different circumstances. Any system, like its human inventors, would age, turn insufferable, then die one day. Some reincarnate, others don’t.

The brute force and passion with which democracies export their faith is bewildering, reminiscent of colonial missionaries. Is the missionary complex simply a hangover from the religious past? Could there be an element of altruism in their uncontrollable urge to share a great social discovery with the rest of humanity? But. . . come on, these are ruthless invaders, operators of 21st Century torture camps and lynching drones so. . .

民主傳教士:一個陰謀論

English: The Democracy Mission -- A Conspiracy Theory 

在西方話語籠罩之下,我們最容易犯的一個毛病,便是人云亦云地贊同民主當然頂呱呱。
“民主誰不想哦?就是同胞們不爭氣,未夠資格。求大哥通融通融,咱們早晚趕上,與你齊齊民主。” 這未假思索的取向毫無理據,與事實不符,卻十分普遍,是個危險的現象。長久被催眠的人,早晚會失去客觀分析和判斷能力,和指鹿為鹿的信心,淪為二等應聲蟲。
每個老百姓所應該要求的,是一個有管治能力,盡量為民謀福利的政府,和大致公平合理的社會,而不是有招牌無實際,被政棍財閥壟斷,到處一塌糊塗,甚至生靈塗炭的 “民主” 騷。天性務實,社會經驗豐富的中國人,尤其應該有信心向這幌子說不!

民主的利弊,已經有很多人辯證不休,無需我插嘴。我想探討的,倒是民主大國盡其所能,甚至不惜動武,也要把他們的制度推廣於世的心態和原因。 

民主的定義極為含糊,跟基督教世界回教世界之類的通稱同樣概括。試問美國,阿富汗,伊拉克,日本,印度等民主國家除了民主旗幟之外,政治上有多少共同點呢?我覺得民主制度,最終跟君主制,貴族制,神棍掌權制,有錢萬能制,共同無產制等等的智人花招一樣,好的時候蠻好,差的時候挺差,一切視乎情況,時機,運氣,數理像的配合。另外還得視乎是否已經好過了三代。

哪麼民主大國不顧一切,把一個有待時間考驗的政制加諸別人,究竟居心何在呢?況且很多的實例證明,一個國家只要掛上民主羊頭,便可以公然販賣狗肉;正常情況之下,大哥不但視若無睹,還會維護,這又是甚麼原因呢?