De Propaganda Fides

De Propaganda Fides

by: f. g. lopriato y lopez

Propaganda is a Latin word. Originally it was used by horticulturists to describe a method of propagating plants. The Catholic church adopted it to describe the method by which to propagate the Catholic faith. The method could create an attitude toward any individual, organization, or ideal by influencing opinion... It can be religious, cultural, or political, and it is used in all the means of communication, as well as the arts. It plays a large role in internal, as well as external relations, The Voice of America, and The U. S. Information, for instance. Propaganda can be a very effective both as a tool or a weapon, in the hands of experts but a loose cannon in the hands of non professionals. All you have to do is tune in any call in show to see what I mean. It's all Negative or Positive propaganda. Positive propaganda praises a sponsor's product or service and negative propaganda condemns, demonizes, insults, slanders, and all but cuddles an opposing political party, religion and anyone associated with the ideal, belief, or proposition. Positive propaganda is handled by a professional propagandist, while Negative propaganda is left up to the caller, that is because the radio station must not get too deeply involved in the negatism or it may be held liable. The talk Master can control the conversation by allowing station sanctioned negativism and cutting short opposing callers. Incidentally, never assume that call in radio is about the caller's freedom of speech, it all about the station's freedom of speech. Talk-shows do not represent one view-point or another because of their profound belief and commitment to "the cause." Most of the stations are part of a greater corporation that depends on a Special Interest of some sort for most of it's funding.; Their corporate offices are lobbied by deep pocket bag-men just as aggressively as they lobby politicians, and should you be under the spell of talk-shows and think that these lobbyists are committed to the ideal of better their services broadcasting, better government or better unity of any sort, guess again. They are mercenaries, their loyalty is for hire to the highest bidder. Talk radio has the means by which to reach thousands of listeners, and for a price they will deliver the client's message. If it is an honest message it is Positive Propaganda, if it is not, it is Negative Propaganda. Sales Propaganda has to be phones, or the FTC would come down hard on the station. In other cases the intent of the perbetrator is taken into account. Not in sales propaganda, ignorance is no defense when it comes to defrauding in sales propaganda, the intent to defraud does not have to be there to obtain a conviction. In other cases, the perpetrator's familiarity with the product is taken into account, but not in sales propaganda. None of this is true about Political Propaganda. Physical contact is about the only thing that is forbidden in political propaganda. That is why candidates, radio talk-show hosts, and callers can get away with what they say. Not because Talk Masters, Networks, or individual radio stations protect the callers freedom of speech . The Constitution does that. What talk-radio does for your freedom of speech is to make you jump through a dozen hoops before you are allowed to practice it on certain shows and if you get passed the screamers and on the air, the host can still hang up on or give you the bums rush so that you cannot fully express yourself then spend the next half hour criticizing what they think you were going to say. I won't paint all talk-masters with the same wide brush. There are some that air both sides of an argument, but most let it happen only if the criticism is what they would say themselves. Once again I ran out of space before I got to my main point.
///fgyl

OUR CULTURAL VALUES

OUR CULTURAL VALUES by: f. g. lopriato y lopez

It will come as a surprise to the mayor and the city of Albuquerque's Health Department, but New Mexico, including this city and county are united by a culture that is over four hundred years old. Mayor Martin Chavez because he has publicly vowed, on the radio, and over the microphones of KKOB AM, that he would change the culture of New Mexico .. To underscore that statement he added that if anyone doubted that he could not do it, to just wait and he would show them. or words to that effect. The Health Department would do well not to even try to politicize the state's traditionaI dishes, such as Posole, tamales, biscochitos and postre during the most sacred and/or most festive days of the year, especially when they attempt to demand that these things be purchased at stores in cans and at the pastry counters. Either the mayor and his Health Department never learned or they have been so driven to undo state culture that they forgot. Whatever the case may be, it's time that someone reminded them that every society has a system of values, a se of interreated values in which a great deal of sentiment is invested. Common sense should tell them that the word, Value, means something of importance to an individual or a group. Ideals; beliefs; things; and people. As political leaders, of any given society they occupy the posts of that that society's Pilots, and societies are piloted by their values. Further, that these things can be important to the society in both a negative or a positive way. i.e. what the society likes and what it doesn't like. No society on the face of the earth is concerned exclusively with the attainment of material ends. Prestige; status; pride; family honor; love of country,; state; county; religious beliefs; and what is commonly known as honor can and often are values so great that entire societies will sacrifice; comfort; well being, and even life itself. i.e. Before the second world war Japanese Immigration into the United States was halted and caused thousands of Japanese citizens to commit suicide, many by jumping into volcanoes, not because they wanted to immigrate themselves but because Japan and its emperor had been insulted. Murder suicide, mass murders, and even individual suicides in the United States are due more to any of these reasons than we care to admit. if you think that these self edifying roach hunters give a tinker's dam about anything but their own perceived importance, you have another guess coming. When guests visit a real New Mexican home during the winter holiday season, they know that they will find a pot of posole; biscochitos; bread pudding,' and tamales, hot coffee or chocolate. even in the most humble houses. Now, come with me to an all-out, no holds barred, gala get together hosted by the mayor after his State of The City speech, for his most loyal subjects, a very special group of Straw Bosses, responsible for assessing the mayor's chances if he seeks an additional term in office and after that their job will be to convince you to vote for him in the primaries and again in the general elections. indeed, a group from which much will be demanded and should be amply rewarded for hav­ing answered the mayor's call. A thin slice of German chocolate cake, and no more. No coffee, no chocolate no ice cream or milk. not even a glass of water with which to wash it down. Economic conditions being what they are and food shortages getting worst and more expensive every day, I look for more New Mexicans to revive the social customs of the past among our own, law or no law.