Nothing really has changed in 100 years. 100 years ago, the United States entered WWI after Woodrow Wilson ( one of the biggest pricks of American History-http://www.ruthlessreviews.com/1867/10-biggest-pricks-in-american-political-history/) ran for re-election on keeping this country OUT of the war. Yet, he persuaded Americans to enthusiastically enter into the meat grinder that war that ended up costing 40 million casualties (115,000 American military deaths alone) and set the stage for the rise of Fascism and Nazism and another meat grinder called WWII.
How did he do it?
How did he get the United States to change it's mind collectively after going back on his promise to keep the country out of war?
Easy. First, he created an apparatus built to change minds through media; The Committee on Public Information, aka "The Creel Committee".( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Committee_on_Public_Information)
One of the members of this committee was the nephew of Sigmund Freud; Edward Bernays who would go on to write "Crystallizing Public Opinion" in 1923 and "Propaganda" in 1928. Both books outlined how to influence and shape public opinion. He would go on to found the first public relations firm that would be the back bone of Madison Avenue advertising firms (Think "Mad Men" of the early 20th century)
Next, you criminalize all opposition speech against the war; it was the reason Eugene Debs was locked up, The Espionage and Sedition Act: (http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/disp_textbook.cfm?smtID=2&psid=3479). It would also serve as the basis for charging the Rosenbergs and sending them to the electric chair
Next, you rid the country of dissenting voices and contrary ideas. You do this with the Palmer Raids: (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palmer_Raids).
And because the press is already owned by millionaires who are already ideologically conservative, it's not much of a matter for them to go along with the okey doke:
"The Powers That Be" by David Halberstam: https://www.press.uillinois.edu/books/catalog/83enm6tn9780252069413.html
"Manufacturing Consent" by Noam Chomsky:
"Outfoxed" by Robert Greenwald
Since we know we can't depend on the "for profit corporate media" (Thanks, Bob Kincaid) we have to rely on ourselves for alternative media and news. We also must make ourselves technically savvy to propaganda and actual "fake news" propagated by outside sources and government agencies. Support local newspapers and outlets, support independent news and podcasts. Make your own e-zines, newsletters and blogs that disseminate actual news. We need to make the transition from "Cold War" thinking to Cyber War thinking.
https://morningconsult.com/opinions/fighting-the-new-digital-propaganda-war/
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