Alan Wake 2 is one of the greatest video games that I have ever played. Its story is full of twists and turns that will surprise you, and has the kind of detail that will cause you to care for the characters in it. The music is superb and not only elevates the gameplaying experience but is legitimately great to listen to on its own. The gameplay is fun, balancing the tension of the survival horror genre with moments of levity and action that make for a rich gaming experience. And it incorporates various media, everything from video to interpretative dance to prove that video games can be true art. The depth of meaning in the story’s symbolism and storytelling is surprising and provides insight into the importance of ritual in the lives of the faithful.
Tag: video games
The Insidious Ways That Governments Use Propaganda To Control You
Over the last year I have written repeatedly on the different ways that governments utilize propaganda to manipulate the public into obeying those in power even when such obedience violates the individual’s basic humanity, his or her basic human rights. Yet, I am still left me lacking an explanation for how propaganda is used to manufacture the consent of the masses to taking part in a system that is built to profit the very few rich and powerful political and corporate leaders at the top at the cost of all the rest of us.
I couldn’t understand why people have fetishized democracy as if merely having a system of elections would protect people from those in power while ignoring the ideals and values that make democracy anything other than the choosing of a new dictator every four to six years. I could not understand how something like the Deep State/Double Government could develop in the most fervently democratic age in human history.
That changed once I was exposed to the book Propaganda by Edward Bernays. An experienced propagandist himself, having produced propaganda for the US government during World War I, Bernays literally wrote a book about how the government uses propaganda in times of peace to “engineer the consent” of the masses and to secure their obedience to those in power.
In this article I delve into his book and pull out some choice excerpts that can helps us to understand the ways that the masses are indoctrinated with government propaganda without realizing it, how the government uses propaganda to manipulate and control the masses, and what we can do about it. This one is an eye-opener for everyone, no matter what your political or religious beliefs.