Whenever any sort of disinformation, fake news and propaganda is discussed I feel like all the talk about it always get’s stuck on it’s existence. Like “the russians are spreading misinformation in europe” or whatever. Which, sure, they do, how the fuck is there no talk about what to do of it?
Cause the way I see it, there’s two options, either there’s no more russia or whatever other rivaling hegemonial power follows up, forever, or alternatively you ask the question about why the fuck this shit lands in the first place and make sure it doesn’t
i like to say something like, “this country was constructed from the very beginning to be ruled by a tiny, powerful elite who claimed ownership of nearly all the land and a very large portion of the people. the strategy ability of a small group of rich people to frame the issues of the day and indoctrinate a great many others to repeat and enforce their values has been here for a long time.”
If anything, I think the heightened cultural emphasis on “propaganda” is a byproduct of the consolidation of who is permitted to define “truth” for a population. “Propaganda” is essentially any speech or idea that originates from outside or contradicts the established arbiter of “truth”. Whether or not a thing accurately reflects or conflicts with empirical reality has no bearing on whether it’s considered “propaganda”.
I don’t think “propaganda” is really a useful term anymore, if it ever was, to describe the accuracy or inaccuracy of a piece of information. It only really describes whether the effect that information has is helpful or harmful to a particular ruling class. It’s more a value judgement than a measure of accuracy.