The Dangers of Propaganda and Sensationalism By: Miguel Caballero, Kiefer Ken Dela Rosa. Beginning in the 1990s, the function and effectiveness of global communication had been placed into the hands of the internet. The new ways that propaganda can be presented has changed how information is gathered and shown to the public. In the novel Brave New World, Aldous Huxley presents the prevalence of propaganda, confirmation bias, and sensationalist media to expose how prone society is to manipulation, ultimately emphasizing the need for rationality and thinking for ourselves. Brave New World served as a prescient warning about the potential danger of passively accepting information without critical thinking. The use of propaganda can be seen both …show more content…
Upon witnessing Lenina's Malthusian belt, she exclaims how she needs to get one even though she just bought one three months ago. These quotes highlight how manipulative the system is as it appeals to the desires of the citizens. To her, it's what society approves and not once does she think about the deeper meaning of the slogan or her actions. In addition, in our world, the topic of fast fashion has similarities with how it’s able to control the masses by appealing to our desires. The article, “The Psychology of Fast Fashion: Why Conversation About Fast Fashion Evokes Such Strong Emotions In Us,” explains how fast fashion has the ability to reach out, “on several multifaceted personal and societal factors, from personal beliefs to socioeconomic status.” Fast fashion carefully controls the masses by targeting people’s needs and insecurities, appealing to a wide spectrum of individuals from personal views about self-image, to socioeconomic position and environmental concerns. The industry can then advertise to the many individuals and create a sense of urgency and exclusivity around their products and bring societal …show more content…
We are constantly reminded of the conditioning that the members of each class experience and how it affects them throughout the narrative. She keeps repeating the phrase "everyone belongs to everyone else," which makes it harder for her to understand Bernard. Although she has the capacity to move past her biases, she eventually returns to her familiar surroundings and is unable to learn anything new outside her bubble. She is unable to even question these slogans and biases as her conditioning is ingrained in her mind. Furthermore, with outside research we found an article called, "The Confirmation Bias: Why People See What They Want to See" by Itamar Shatz, and it states, “confirmation bias is a cognitive bias that causes people to search for, favor, interpret, and recall information in a way that confirms their preexisting beliefs” this shows how people see what they only want to see. The quote ties back to the echo chambers and how they play off of each other. How people find information that fits into what they see. This creates a narrow mindset in which it’s difficult to explore the outside bounds of the biases. In our world, we can
During WW1, the Americans had influenced the war by propaganda. Propaganda is when you spread rumors to influence society. Propaganda was used to affect Germany, Great Britain, and the United States. In Germany propaganda was used to give the soldiers morals and people with false information that was sent by balloons or planes. In America propaganda was used to persuade other Americans to join the war against Germany. In Great Britain, propaganda was meant to convince men into joining the war and for people to save food for the war effort.
This era in modern society is simply recalled the “Age of the Television,” meaning that all exchange is in the form of entertainment, which shows that people care more about pleasuring one another and expressing themselves rather than focusing on accomplishing tasks or pressing issues. For example, when Paris was bombed last year, many people changed their Facebook profile pictures to a French flag to show support; however, this was merely another form of passivity, implying that they do not want to actively contribute to better the situation. Instead, these people would only like to give the semblance that they care to get praise and protect their ego. Consequently, all types of a society’s media foreshadow how truth will be displayed, reinforcing Huxley’s prediction that the “truth will be drowned in a sea of irrelevance,” and that irrelevance in today’s society is in the form of television and the
When dystopias are mentioned, books like Aldous Huxley's A Brave New World come to mind, but no one ever thinks of modern, popular religions. The goal of these books are to warn the modern society of what could go wrong if it keeps behaving like it is by exaggerating the flaws of the modern society. Scientology is a fairly new religion that has gained many followers over the past decade because of its illusion of a utopia, but it is also exactly what Huxley and Orwell are warning about in their books. Like A Brave New World, The church of scientology started off with good intentions, but over time all the rules and beliefs have turned out to be corrupt and unfair. Utopias like in A Brave New World and Scientology often become dystopias because
Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World illustrates a colorful, fantastic universe of sex and emotion, programming and fascism that has a powerful draw in a happy handicap. This reality pause button is called “Soma”. “Take a holiday from reality whenever you like, and come back without so much as a headache or a mythology.” ( Huxley 54 ).
Aldous Huxley’s novel, Brave New World, showcases a world alternate from ours, a dystopian setting. Where human morals are drastically altered, families, love, history, and art are removed by the government. They used multiple methods to control the people, but no method in the world state is more highly used and more effective than propaganda. The world state heavily implemented the use of propaganda to control, to set morals, and to condition the minds of every citizen in their world. However such uses of propaganda have already been used in our world and even at this very moment. The way the media sways us how to think or how we should feel about a given situation. Often covering the truth and hiding the facts. One of the goals in propaganda is to set the mindset of the people to align with the goal of a current power, such as a
In the novel The Brave New World, Aldous Huxley introduces a deranged world where humans are trapped, drugged, and obsessed with looks. The United World is presented as the ideal world; everyone knows their place in society, no one has any troubles, at the end of the day, everyone gets a dose of soma. However, throughout this ironic novel, the reader can see that, though portrayed as a flawless universe, Huxley has set it up to blatantly show its flaws. While showing how the real world, though more difficult to live in, is a better situation, Huxley also draws subtle parallels between the two worlds. Our abuse of drugs, both legal and not, are used to fade out the troubles we may be having, just as soma is used in the Brave New World. Additionally, our obsession with preserving a youthful complexion is an ever-present theme in the novel as well. The book also illustrates the lack of freedom people have to alter their own lives, which, in many ways, rings true in our society. Though our nation does differ in many ways from the United World, we exemplify similarities in more ways than just one, which juxtaposes our world with theirs.
The Trickle-down theory, a well-known theory in fashion industry, has significant meaning in 19th to 20th century Europe. The American economist and sociologist, Veblen, published The theory of the Leisure Class by 1899, in which he discussed the split between the leisure class and the industrial class in the US critically. He concluded that leisure class treats dress as a sign of their status and possessions, furthermore, ‘Dress must not only be conspicuously expensive and inconvenient; it must at the same time be up to date’(Veblen 1994), by saying that, he refers to upper class was tend to create new fashion trend which was the top of the trickle-down theory. In the 20th century, Simmel, the German sociologist and philosopher, developed this theory further from a more sympathetic perspective. He drew much attention to sameness and difference amongst both classes in his book Fashion (Simmel 1973). The upper class gets self-satisfied and the proof of its priority by distinguishing itself from others, and working class follows the fashion trend which led by upper class in order to feel like he or she is ‘belonging to’ higher class. These opinions which were discussed by Veblen and Simmel were coined by a journalist in the mid-20th century, as ‘Trickle- down Theory’. During mid-18th to early 20th century, the trickle-down theory described the process of how fashion flows, and explains that fashion is a cultural and sociological phenomenon which includes the discourse of identity and uniformity, agency and structuralism. This phenomenon was not limited by geography, at the same period, in the other side of the world, similar situation happened in China which is a typical East Asian country....
“"Propaganda is as powerful as heroin, it surreptitiously dissolves all capacity to think” by Gil Courtemanche connects to the sad fact of using propaganda as a deadly weapon to feed people with false information and stop them from thinking. George Orwell’s novel, 1984, describes a totalitarian dystopian society where the Party is constantly brainwashing its citizens with information that is beneficial to its own rights. On the opposite side, people are working for the party just like dominated slaves for their masters without knowing what’s going on. But, in order for the party to achieve this goal, they have to use different techniques of propaganda in Oceania to create fear for people so that they can obey the rules. The use of propaganda in the society of 1984 takes away freedom from individuals because of the absence of privacy, thinking and making decisions.
In “The man behind Abercrombie and Fitch.” An interview conducted by Benoit Denizet-Lewis displays a glimpse into the life of Mike Jeffries and his views of his company only hiring “good-looking” people and targeting “good-looking” people to wear his clothes. This has been done in order to force his audience to recognize that the issue of acceptance one’s peers and exclusion of a community mentioned by Mike Jeffries, is a result of cultural perceptions and individual self-image. Denizet-Lewis skillfully shows that while Jeffries remarks of not wanting the “not-so-popular” kids to shop in his stores, it poses a question to consumers asking what change in our attitudes will come or if there will be any change at all. Thus comes the issue of how consumers today have a shift in the reasoning behind why one buys clothing and the motivating factors that influence one to buy certain clothing. Denizet-Lewis also demonstrates the different messages that controversial advertisements and statements affect different groups of people and how what they project is really what people desire, though deemed by many people as unacceptable or inappropriate. The author also examines how in the news media, the image has become more important than the message and how images have taken precedent over actual issues and character. As a result of this, various communities have formed by the construct of selling to “beautiful people” and how popular appeal has become an extension of a person.
Snowball, David. "Propaganda and its Discontents." Journal of Communication 49.3 (2009): 165-71. ProQuest. Web. 2 Dec. 2013.
Fashion in the 21st century is a big business, as its production employs millions of people and generates billions of dollars in revenue. Fashion has for the past century been, and is still today, used as an indicator of social change and progress, as it changes with the social norms of the society and the political changes of the world (Finkelstein 3). Works Cited Finkelstein, Joanne. A.S.A. & Co. Fashion: An Introduction to Fashion. New York: New York University Press, 1998.
It’s no secret that some women believe fashion portrays who they are. Therefore follow every season’s new trend. This leads to spending money that they don’t have. Waller Lea, a journalist, suggest that “for some communities, purchasing knockoffs or generic products are frowned upon, forcing minorities to spend more money. Now businesses and companies are targeting minorities, causing more debt problems.” Addicted to retail or brainwashed? Opponents claim that fashion is simply a creative way to express themselves. There are others ways to express ourselves that are no based on our appearance. Through drawing, painting or through our thoughts and ideas. What happens when someone can’t afford expensive clothing or doesn’t have access to fashionable clothes? They are singled out and excluded from society for being different.
Gardner, Marilyn. "Fast Fashion Is a Problem." The Fashion Industry. Ed. Roman Espejo. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2010. Opposing Viewpoints. Rpt. from "Fashion Industry Gives Rise to a 'Disposable Culture, '." The Christian Science Monitor. 2007. Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web. 22 Nov.
It is necessary to identify fashion and explain the systems apparel industry uses before I start explore the essentiality of fast fashion. According to Dictionary.com, fashion is defined as the prevailing style or custom that is in a current mode and used to express oneself. It can be clothing, accessories, hair, etc. Why certain people like to frequently shop in malls and keep updating apparels in their closets every season? Form psychological perspective, people usually consider clothing as a symbol to show their values, personality and lifestyles to others. Critically, a rapid imaginative change and symbolic expression supports a sense people have about fashion. People believe that an ideal self-identity can be communicated to others through clothing, so figuring out how people make decision when they perceive clothing among different brands and understanding their needs and desires can help apparel industries expending and maintaining market s...
"The Rise of Modern Propaganda." The Rise of Modern Propaganda. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Jan. 2014. (TROMP p. #)