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Obama's Slogan
American Thinker
Lee Cary
9/11/2012
Excerpt:
"Forward, the Obama campaign's collectivist campaign slogan, targets undecided voters.
Jacques Ellul (1912-1994), variously described as a French philosopher, legal scholar/law professor, lay theologian and Christian anarchist, wrote the widely-acclaimed book, "Propaganda: The Formation Of Men's Attitudes," first published in 1962.
Ellul gained first-hand knowledge of propaganda during World War II when, after being fired from teaching positions in French universities by the Vichy government, he became a leader in the Resistance. His efforts to save Jews earned him the title of Righteous among the Nations from Yad Vashem in 2001. His book is recognized as a groundbreaking examination of propaganda combining the sociological and psychological disciplines.
Here's Ellul's definition of propaganda:
In describing the role of symbols in propaganda, Ellul defined the slogan as a type of symbol.
Forward is collectivist's language -- a summons to the masses to undertake some heroic advancement in support of a shared goal -- or presumably so. A sane person doesn't say "Forward" to just one person; nor does a battlefield commander order a single soldier to "Charge." Forward is spoken by the one to the many.
Since Forward became the Obama campaign slogan in April, its popularity with socialist regimes has been noted, as well as how it diverts attention away from Obama's failures in office."
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View the complete article at:
http://www.americanthinker.com/2012/...as_slogan.html
American Thinker
Lee Cary
9/11/2012
Excerpt:
"Forward, the Obama campaign's collectivist campaign slogan, targets undecided voters.
Jacques Ellul (1912-1994), variously described as a French philosopher, legal scholar/law professor, lay theologian and Christian anarchist, wrote the widely-acclaimed book, "Propaganda: The Formation Of Men's Attitudes," first published in 1962.
Ellul gained first-hand knowledge of propaganda during World War II when, after being fired from teaching positions in French universities by the Vichy government, he became a leader in the Resistance. His efforts to save Jews earned him the title of Righteous among the Nations from Yad Vashem in 2001. His book is recognized as a groundbreaking examination of propaganda combining the sociological and psychological disciplines.
Here's Ellul's definition of propaganda:
"Propaganda is a set of methods employed by an organized group that wants to bring about the active or passive participation in its actions of a mass of individuals, psychologically unified through psychological manipulation and incorporated in an organization." (p. 61, Vintage Books Edition, February 1973)
In describing the role of symbols in propaganda, Ellul defined the slogan as a type of symbol.
"Another particularly evocative symbol is the slogan, which contains the demands, the expectations, the hopes of the mass, and at the same time expresses the established values of a group. Slogans determine with considerable precision each type of group toward which an individual is oriented, whether or not he is a member.
Above all, the slogan assures the continuity of the stereotype, which is fixed as a function of the past. But the individual finds himself constantly faced with new situations that the stereotype alone does not permit him to master; the slogan is the connection used by the propagandist to permit the individual to apply his old stereotypes to a new situation. He brushes up and adjusts the ready-made image; at the same time, he integrates the new situation into a classic context, familiar and unconfusing. That is why the slogan flourishes in times of crisis, war, and revolution. It explains also the attraction the slogan has: thanks to it, the individual is not intellectually lost. He clings to it not only because the slogan is easy to understand and to retain, but also because it permits him to 'find himself in it.' (p. 164 n.)
Above all, the slogan assures the continuity of the stereotype, which is fixed as a function of the past. But the individual finds himself constantly faced with new situations that the stereotype alone does not permit him to master; the slogan is the connection used by the propagandist to permit the individual to apply his old stereotypes to a new situation. He brushes up and adjusts the ready-made image; at the same time, he integrates the new situation into a classic context, familiar and unconfusing. That is why the slogan flourishes in times of crisis, war, and revolution. It explains also the attraction the slogan has: thanks to it, the individual is not intellectually lost. He clings to it not only because the slogan is easy to understand and to retain, but also because it permits him to 'find himself in it.' (p. 164 n.)
Forward is collectivist's language -- a summons to the masses to undertake some heroic advancement in support of a shared goal -- or presumably so. A sane person doesn't say "Forward" to just one person; nor does a battlefield commander order a single soldier to "Charge." Forward is spoken by the one to the many.
Since Forward became the Obama campaign slogan in April, its popularity with socialist regimes has been noted, as well as how it diverts attention away from Obama's failures in office."
................................
View the complete article at:
http://www.americanthinker.com/2012/...as_slogan.html