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A global security expert says the American public knows it is divided over politics and culture but warns the Far Left is manipulated by the media to keep the hate brewing.
The Left believes they are above being deceived or manipulated and are trying to manipulate the Right. The Conservatives and Christians.
Be informed, not misled.
Political ideologies in America are “at war with one another,” says Ben Varlese, a military veteran and global security expert, who blames the news media for stirring up that hate. That happens, he says, because the left-wing media delivers a one-sided view in which "right-wingers" are blamed for everything wrong that happens.
He tells American Family News that the news media, including social media, are at the center of "driving opposing viewpoints," and this, he laments, is “driving radicalization to a degree.”
That stinging observation is categorically denied by the Left, which would never accept responsibility for the actions it causes, he warns. That denial is part of the complicity that spurs "radicalization," including domestic terrorism.
Example
"Everything they told us to stop saying against Islamic extremists," he observes, "is what they are now doing to their political opposition.”
The security expert says one example is how violent the Left has become over the transgender issue.
“Look at the verbiage used: the trans community is 'under attack,' " he says.
In that tragic shooting, the news media twisted the attack by a transgender killer to accuse others of wrongdoing, making the killer a victim.
"And local authorities are still refusing to allow the public to know the content of the killer's personal manifesto. We have a right to know what the Manifesto says, but it's being protected under the guise of protecting other transgenders---the victims--- from the so-called "radical right."
How the media manipulates the public.
Noam Chomsky has said, “In a totalitarian state, it doesn’t matter what people think, since the government can control people by force using a bludgeon. But when you can’t control people by force, you have to control what people think, and the standard way to do this is via propaganda.”
Some years ago, a French writer, Sylvain Timsit, ranked the methods of mass manipulation. I don't agree with Timsit on a number of his personal beliefs. However, this list nails the issue of how the media manipulates the public.
Here are 10 things we should keep in mind when listening to news and reports from the media:
1. Distraction
The strategy of distraction consists of deviating the public’s attention from important issues. One way they do it is by flooding the news with stories on trivial issues. The objective is to distract the people and keep their minds occupied. The result is that people stop questioning why the media isn’t talking about certain issues; the people forget the real issues.
2. Problem – Reaction – Solution
This method is the equivalent of doing a “poll“ in politics. That is, it consists of testing the population by spreading rumors or ideas in order to evaluate how the population would receive them. It is creating a problem they can later solve. Then the public sees the manipulators as heroes.
3. Gradualism (or incrementalism)
Gradualism manipulates people by getting them to accept unjust decisions. The key is to do it progressively, slowly, over the course of years.
4. Differing
Another strategy in media manipulation is that of presenting unpopular decisions as “necessary,” “for a better future,” or “for our own good.” They make the public believe that their sacrifices will make things significantly better later on.
So the citizens get used to a lower quality of life. They start seeing it as normal. Ultimately, the people will resign themselves to the current state of things and will stop demanding what they were demanding.
5. Treating the people like children
The more the media wants to manipulate the public, the more they will talk to the public like they’re children. Sugarcoated arguments, characters, and intonations are used as if the people were too weak or immature to handle the truth. The goal is also a submissive, docile reaction. The idea is to keep people from thinking critically like adults.
6. Appealing to emotions
Emotional appeals are much more powerful than sterile, purely objective ones. The media knows it, and so they appeal to the public’s emotions. Again, they try to keep people from thinking critically; they try to control their thoughts. Remember how powerful fear can be.
7. Keeping the public ignorant and mediocre
The media prefers an ignorant, uncultured public. Keeping them isolated from knowledge makes them easier to manipulate. It also keeps insubordination and rebellion away. Information is power.
8. Encouraging people to contribute to mediocrity
This point and the previous one are very similar, and this one is one of the most subtle strategies of media manipulation. Do the shows offered on TV match what the general public wants? Or are they imposed on us by the media? In other words, do we actually watch what we want to watch, or what they want us to watch?
Are television and movies a reflection of the culture, or are they an image of a culture the Leftist media want to create?
9. Self-blame
At the same time that the media is encouraging our ignorance, they are also making us believe that we’re the only ones responsible for our misfortunes. The media never takes responsibility for anything.
10. Complete knowledge of the public
In order to exert control over someone, you need to know them. Unfortunately, our modern oligarchies have taken care of this perfectly. Psychological, social, and technological advances now allow large companies to know everything about every single individual. The “system” knows us, and that means it can manipulate us exactly where we’re weak.
Takeaway
The noise of opinions in our world today is deafening...and manipulative. God's Word is our lamp in the darkness of the noise. Stay the course.
Remember: "The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy; I have come that they might have life and that they might have it more abundantly" (John 10:10).
"He that walketh with wise men shall be wise: but a companion of fools shall be destroyed" (Proverbs 13:20).
Be Informed. Be Discerning. Be Vigilant. Be Wise. Be Prayerful.