Monday musings: propaganda, history and education

Every good (read: effective) propagandist knows how to make use of all 3 forms of a lie when it is expedient.

We must not overlook nor minimize the three forms of a lie.  The well known and most obvious form is telling and spreading a false statement, a fabrication.  But, the other 2 forms of a lie can be and are very harmful to individuals, and collectively to society.  These are the half truth, and the suppression of the truth or hiding of facts.

There is truth, and then there is the perception of truth.  These 2 are often times not the same thing.  What we believe to be true, if it has been shaped by propaganda, is likely not true, or at least not the whole truth.

Propaganda has warped our study and understanding of history in the West for some time now.  Our history is not comprehensive and obscures or distorts many important decisions, actions and events.  When inconvenient facts contradict what is officially accepted as history, these are swept under the rug so to speak and ignored.  We cannot expect to learn the correct lessons from history so as to avoid future geopolitical mistakes (catastrophes) if the history we study is so corrupted.  As well, propaganda is now part of much of education in the Western world, especially in the social sciences.



other related thoughts

In education, especially higher education (academia) in the US today, we see where dissenting voices and views are being silenced through intimidation in the classroom and the lecture hall.  Sadly, education in the US has become involved in indoctrination of the students in the currently predominant paradigm (leftist ideology in its various current permutations).  This is happening because radical liberals have over the past few decades been tenured as professors in most of the universities and colleges in the nation.  Yet, the purpose of education is to develop the critical thinking skills of the young, a noble purpose.  What passes for knowledge at university these days is tainted or stained greatly by propaganda and distortions of truth.  Unquestioning loyalty and adherence to ideology are valued more highly than critical, independent thinking.  Indeed, leftist ideology fails in the real world in practice, thus it cannot endure critical scrutiny in the classroom.

What of lie filled propaganda passed off as “history”?  When officially or generally accepted historical accounts are found to be in error and false, the accepted historiography needs to be carefully scrutinized.  Thus, there is a need for unbiased and objective historical revisionism.

The question arises: Who benefits from this state of affairs where lies masquerade as truth and fact, and education is indoctrination or brainwashing?  And, this line of thinking leads one to query: Who is behind this ideologically driven dishonesty?

An afterthought: perhaps we ought to refer to official history and education today as fake history and fake education.

copyright 2017 –


  1. When I started research the origins of World War 2; and the Germans; and the “6 million” of the holocaust – I had an “oh shit” moment as I realized how badly I was lied to about those things. Then the question: what else ?

  2. Great points. Unfortunately those who were raised with the old adage, “When a man lies, he murders part of the world,” are increasingly becoming extinct and are being replaced by career and pathological liars. The worst part is watching the lies become normalized, accepted, encouraged, taught and unchallenged.

    1. Thanks for sharing your thoughts. Yes, the lies have become normalized on many issues. Citizens need to maintain a healthy level of skepticism. We do need more critical thinkers who can think outside of the box. We do not want to become a nation of sheep.

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