President Trump stood in front of the 81^st session of the United States General Assembly and declared that America is stronger than ever, and that under his leadership, we will be rejecting communism and global governance while defending American sovereignty. Conservative news, despite watching the President infringe on the First Amendment by banning the media from the White House and institute our very own state-run apparatus, praised him for this speech. They seem to forget the man is a pathological liar who promised no new wars, complete transparency on the Epstein issue, and an end to government spending. Instead, we went to war with Iran, the Epstein issue is a hoax, and he owns a whopping thirty percent of the national debt, having contributed twelve trillion dollars in less than six years. The Tea Party movement was started in opposition to Obama’s excessive spending, which equated to six trillion in eight years. Trump is also ushering in the surveillance state, working to gain acceptance for Flock cameras and data centers by saying we need to win the AI race with China. Trump’s entire presidency was built on a single narrative. He was sold to the public as the antithesis of a Hillary Clinton presidency in 2016. He was the only one who stood a chance, and therefore, when he won, a sense of relief washed over the public, and whammo! He became a hero. A myth of unquestionable proportions. Shortly thereafter, we began hearing rumors of a plan to arrest the deep state, and all we had to do was sit back and follow along. This is despite the fact that Trump promised to have Hillary arrested, and instead, thanked her and Billy Boy for their wonderful service to the country. Terms like drain the swamp, fourD chess, and never Trumper became as effective as “two weeks to slow the curve” in their ability to trap the minds of those who desperately wanted to believe. Even Trump’s promise to issue everyone a five-thousand-dollar check is being treated as a fourD chess strategy. The Blaze published an article stating this move is forcing Congress to start taking the debt seriously. How does that make any sense? Trump is the one who approved all of the recent spending. The sad truth is, Americans are being propagandized on a scale most cannot even comprehend. They see something that reflects their beliefs and assume it represents reality, when in truth, propaganda works best when it reflects the biases and presuppositions of the target audience.

Trump’s speech was intended to spark the same feelings of patriotism that swept through Republican consciousness in 2016. It resonates with many voters because they put all of their faith in him, and because of this, they are unable to separate their feelings from reality. According to Jacques Ellul, propaganda, to be effective, must not only reflect the popular sentiments, or currents in society, but it must “attach itself to a feeling, an idea; it must build on a foundation already present in the individual.” What is the idea that the current propaganda is being built on? Trump is playing a brilliant game of four-dimensional chess against the deep state. The fact that this belief still persists after all of the contradictions to the contrary is a testament to the effectiveness of propaganda. Americans seem to have a hard time understanding the nature of what they are dealing with. We are in a constant state of cognitive overload as the media keeps us bouncing from one story to the other. This is something that is taken advantage of, as it is known by researchers that people tend to forget the last crisis as soon as a new one presents itself. Ellul writes this is, in fact, one of the more salient points for the clever propagandist. Man, despite his intelligence, is generally incapable of spotting inconsistencies in his logic, or even in facts. This is also an idea expressed by Richard Thaler and Cass Sunstein in their book, Nudge. They say that people are very susceptible to the way messages are framed because they are unaware of how their perceptions would change if the same message were framed differently. Ellul says that people will likely forget what he calls a “particular propaganda theme” within a few weeks. Is this true? Let’s look at it for a moment. Trump’s promise to arrest Hillary Clinton? Forgotten. The very fact that Trump has always donated to the Clinton Foundation? Forgotten, or ignored. Trump’s role in the vaccine rollout and lockdowns? Forgotten. Trump’s statement on taking guns first and going to court later? Ignored as fake news. Redaction of the Epstein files? Forgotten. Twelve trillion added to the national debt? Brushed aside. Trump telling his supporters he no longer wants their support because of the Epstein files? Thrown in the trash bin of history with the rest of them. All of these issues are direct contradictions to the popular Trump narrative that the MAGA movement either forgets or makes excuses for because the narrative of fourD chess matches and reflects their preconceived ideas. This obviously doesn’t apply to everyone. There are, however, a group of people who are still clinging tightly to this fairy tale.

The bigger problem is that our whole system seems to be a fairy tale in and of itself. Every election cycle we are running to the polls to vote for the people we believe will solve the problems created by those we voted for last time. The great myth of our system is that there are two parties that, on the surface, oppose one another. Democrats and Republicans pander to the beliefs and values of their voters, who, in turn, show up at the polls believing that a victory will correct everything. Even now, we see videos on social media of people, mostly portrayed as blue-collar, acting as if they regret supporting Trump and suggesting the only way to save the country is to vote Democrat. This is just as much propaganda as anything else being discussed here. It isn’t relegated to one side or the other. Joost Meerloo said in The Rape of the Mind that propaganda can be effective in changing the perceptions of all people, not just Republicans or Democrats. For propaganda to be truly effective, it must not only align with the common perceptions and beliefs of the target audience, but according to Ellul, it must agree with “the great myths of our time.” The great myth of our time in this context, as noted, is our two-party system. Every political opinion, every conflict, every policy push, is based on the premise of a left vs. right paradigm. Everything is framed to keep this perception going. People have been conditioned to support their party to the point where every discussion becomes trapped in a box comparing the depths of corruption. As if one is better than the other. You can’t criticize Trump’s policies, for example, without a staunch supporter asking if you would rather have Harris or Biden. This is the effect of propaganda. There is no other answer except for the left/right contrast.

Propaganda must be familiar with collective sociological presuppositions, spontaneous myths, and broad ideologies. (Ellul, 1962, pg. 38)

The sociological presupposition dominating American politics is the ideological battle between the left and right. A battle where each side believes they are fighting to make the country a better place. It is the goal of all propaganda, writes Ellul, to reflect these sociological presuppositions back to the audience. This keeps them in an unthinking state where, unconsciously, they just nod in agreement, going along with whatever their side is doing. People’s passions are enflamed because no matter who is in office, they are presented as the hero on one side and the problem that must be defeated on the other. The narrative surrounding the Trump administration was brilliant, as every action he took was soon followed by videos of raging liberals throwing a temper tantrum. This reinforced the perception that Trump was fighting them while standing for values they opposed. Cleverly crafted catchphrases like snowflake and TDS aided in this. The more he was opposed by the left, the more unquestionable he became to his supporters. The more of a mythlike figure he became. This is because propaganda, as Ellul says, can turn natural feelings of patriotism into raging nationalism, as it not only reflects the target audience’s beliefs, but sharpens them, and drives the people to action. This works both ways.

Americans elected Trump to take on the deep state and end corruption. Most people haven’t slowed down enough to think about where the term “deep state” even came from. It is a catchphrase popularized by the late Rush Limbaugh during Trump’s first term. If there is a deep state, and surely there is, what else would they be except an organization highly skilled at manipulating and guiding human behavior to their ends? The study of propaganda has been going on for a very long time, and it is highly likely that our reactions to Trump were not only predicted but expected. Some of the material cited in this article, for example, is already over sixty years old. If they were that advanced in their understanding of human behavior then, how much has it advanced? To put this in sharper focus, the very purpose of propaganda, as described by Edward Bernays, is “to mold the minds of the masses so they will direct all their efforts towards the desired ends of the shadow government, who use the powers of propaganda to gain approval on issues they may have at one time, disapproved of.” The minds of Americans have been molded to participate in their own enslavement. Republicans and Democrats blindly accept the agendas and narratives of their chosen parties simply because they are presented as the solution to the problems caused by the opposing party. It happens every two years. Americans would be wise to familiarize themselves with how propaganda works. The government surely does, and it shows.

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Article posted with permission from David Risselada