(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Goebbels' Principles of Propaganda #18 [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.'] Date: 2024-01-31 The “Look Over There” Rule of Messaging PROPAGANDA MUST FACILITATE THE DISPLACEMENT OF AGGRESSION BY SPECIFYING THE TARGETS FOR HATRED In his article on Goebbels’ Principles of Propaganda, Leonard Doob noted that the Nazi’s “principal technique seems to have been that of displacing German aggression on to some outgroup.” Basically, Goebbels blamed: The Communists The Jews The Other Guy - Goebbels created “hostility” between groups within a conquered territory. Do You Want Total War? The Sportpalast Speech In 1943, Germany had just experienced several unpleasant military shocks: the defeat of the German army at Stalingrad and bombing campaigns that led to its cities burning from Allied attacks. These were unpleasant realities that could not be denied through creative storytelling. Goebbels, Germany’s Minister of Propaganda, needed to move the German people into a willingness to continue fighting and endure hardships that were seemingly inevitable. So he opted to blame others for Germany’s situation and explain to the German people why they had to fight and suffer. Share The Tell with Christine Axsmith [The German people] want everyone, high and low, rich and poor, to share a spartan life style. Equally, Goebbels wanted even more power within the Nazi regime. Delivering a willing and battle-ready mindset in the population would do that. So Goebbels addressed a stadium full of German people about the state of the war in what has become known as the Sportspalast Speech. A lot of propaganda techniques were used in this speech, but we will focus on Goebbels’ Principle of Propaganda #18 - blaming others. Blame Communists & Jews In this speech, Goebbels blamed communists for the war, and said they want to take over Europe and the German people are the only ones smart and strong enough to stop them. After that, he associates communists with Jews, and then just hyphenates it into “Bolsheviks-Jews” while ascribing all manner of nastiness to Jews, in a list too long and meaningless to repeat. Blame Democracy His speech went on the say that only Germans could stop the Soviet Union. Goebbels called democracies a weak form of government that dawdled by having discussions about the state of things and the best approach to defeating the imminent threat of communism. He mocked diplomacy and those who talk to address the communist threat. “Our defeats just show how brave we are.” What Will Be Destroyed “We know that the German people are defending their holiest possessions: their families, women and children, the beautiful and untouched countryside, their cities and villages, their two thousand year old culture, everything indeed that makes life worth living.” Share Blame the Fun-Loving People “Total war is the demand of the hour,” Goebbels told them. And that meant sacrifice from even the rich people. All of the German people were in this war. Towards that end, he made some announcement describing what “total war” looked like: Closing of bars and night clubs. I cannot imagine that people who are doing their duty for the war effort still have the energy to stay out late into the night in such places. I can only conclude that they are not taking their responsibilities seriously. We have closed these establishments because they began to offend us, and because they disturb the image of the war. (Fun guy, huh?) Closing luxury restaurants that “demand far more resources than is reasonable.” Closing luxury stores. “They often offended the buying public.” Closing “fashion salons,” meaning any interesting clothing stores. Closing spas where people gossip. Banning unnecessary travel by “unemployed pleasure-seekers.” Women must work and fire their maids, those spoiled bitches. (OK, maybe he phrased it differently.) Share The Tell with Christine Axsmith A Rehearsed Audience The audience was actually coached on their actions: when to clap, when to shout, when to stand in spontaneous frenzy. The people who attended the Sportpalast Speech were chosen to represent a cross-section of German society. In reality, all were chosen for their perceived receptivity to Goebbels’ message that night. As an aside, I’d love to have an audience rehearsed in how to applaud my genius ideas. Especially about how all fun must be ended. But rehearsing the audience was a critical aspect to the persuasive power of the Sportpalast Speech. Watching the film of that speech, the average German would have the impression that everyone agrees with what he said. That in itself is very persuasive. Besides, by then the German people knew what kind of government the Nazis were running, and the risks they took by public disagreement. It helps, as described in last week’s post, if anyone who disagrees is immediately silenced by arrest and being sent to a concentration camp. Share The Tell with Christine Axsmith 2024 Here and now, Goebbels’ Propaganda Principle #18 is still in use. The rhetoric, on both sides, is one of blame for our dissatisfied condition: Migrants. “Dumb People”. Used by those skewing left to say how much better they are than the other side. Woke Culture. Jews. Used by the left and the right. Trans People. The modern scapegoating experience differs from the Sportpalast Speech. No one is asking for sacrifice from Americans. G-d forbid, our nice restaurants are closed when low toilet paper supplies are enough to create panic. Not expensive insulin, mind you, but no way to comfortably wipe your butt. Scapegoating has been an effective way to manipulating people’s opinions at least since the Bronze Age. A mechanism for dealing with it is in the Old Testament. None of us are too good, or smart, to engage in it. As we are all susceptible, we must all examine our beliefs and engagement, and of those we follow. 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