Propaganda

 Each One Teach One 2

    Propaganda could be considered more or less the systematic effort to manipulate other people's beliefs, attitudes, or actions by using symbols such as words, gestures, banners, etc. People can look at propaganda as having both pros and cons depending on how you look at it. One benefit is how propaganda is able to unify a specific group of people. If one group is against another, propaganda further motivated them to their goal and the whole reason they were using propaganda in the first place. In the end the group will be more untied because they came together to succeed with a common goal. Another pro that could also be considered a con to others could be that propaganda easily manipulates gullible people. To the people who are using propaganda this is a huge benefit because they can easily convince people to join whatever cause or purpose they are trying to convey. To the people who are on the opposite side of propaganda, though, this can be a deceptive tactic that is wrong in their eyes. This leads into the next topic which is the downfalls of propaganda. The first con to propaganda is propaganda is considered to most people a conning tactic. Propaganda is an exaggeration intended to deceive people into thinking one thing is right and another idea is wrong. This can be very controversial because not everyone will always agree with a specific idea. This can cause a divide in people and instead of uniting everyone together it is a way to split and conquer on a specific topic. Another downfall is that propaganda is not as powerful as it used to be back when it was first used. In today's society most people have access to all of the information they need to figure out what side of a major topic they want to be on. This makes it easier for the general population to look through the deception that propaganda usually causes. 

    Propaganda has a huge affect on society as a whole. It can be found in many in many different media outlets that a majority of the population has access too. Propaganda is mostly found in outlets such as magazines, newspapers, news channels, advertisements, etc. The whole world is surrounded by it daily so there is no way to avoid running into propaganda in one way or another. A specific type of propaganda that had and still has a huge affect on society is Wartime Propaganda. This is one of the most influential propaganda types. A lot of people joined the war through propaganda and it still has a lot of influence today. Wartime Propaganda also was used to convince people to be on a certain side of a war. Propaganda can also be used to encourage a large group of people to act and/or react a certain way during wars or large historical events. For example, the United States dropped leaflets and radio broadcastings to convince people in Iraq not to fight, to go home, and to not attack the coalition forces during the war on Iraq. In general, propaganda will affect different groups differently depending on multiple different circumstances such as their standing with the topic and what the specific topic is about. For example, if the government is trying to use propaganda to convince others to join the war, a family who needs all of the members of the family to work and bring a profit for the family, then they will do everything in their power to avoid joining the war. Propaganda used to have a lot more power than it does now but it still is present in todays society and is still very important.

Sources:

https://www.britannica.com/topic/propaganda

https://www.quora.com/What-are-the-pros-and-cons-of-propaganda

https://web.stanford.edu/class/e297a/War%20Reporting%20on%20the%20U.S.%20War%20in%20Iraq.htm