The Unethical Use of Propaganda by Sam Zemurray in Advancing UFC’s Commercial Interests. Rich Cohen’s biography of Samuel Zemurray The Fish that Ate the Whale refers to Zemurray as America’s Banana King, because to the extensive amount of wealth and political influence that he accumulated while commercializing the banana fruit and making it America’s national fruit through his firm – United Fruits Company. However, some of Zemurray’s business practices were not ethical. He was known to frequently deploy the use of propaganda when he realized that things would not go his way. Zemurrays’ use of propaganda was not ethically justified since it was driven by the need to meet the ideals of corporate greed at the expense of nurturing a socially responsible organization that is keen on improving people’s welfare. Edward Bernays was Zemmurray’s spanner boy tasked with implementing the unethical propaganda campaigns. In his 1928 text aptly named Propaganda, Bernays seems to pre-empt his effective propaganda campaign by stating that “the intelligent and conscious manipulation of organized opinions and habits of masses is a necessity in any democratic society” (Barney 7). Propaganda works on Huxley’s premise that it is easy to condition the human mind to perceive certain moral ideals as the truth (Huxley 23). Sam Zemurray contracted Edward Bernays to deploy a propaganda campaign to boost United Fruit’s public image and counter any dissenting sentiments. Edward Bernays first set out to shape public opinion in Central America by coming up with news publications both within and throughout the area. United Fruit’s employees in Guatemala, Honduras, Costa Rica and Panama each received a copy of the weekly “Latin America Report” which was the creat... ... middle of paper ... ...topple the Guatemalan government just for the sake of his self-preservation. These actions were founded on unethical corporate greed which had led to a long period of undesirable economic and social consequences in Guatemala. For Guatemala, Zemurray’s propaganda led to the collapse of the land reforms which would have empowered the peasants by turning them into producers. As Huxley (76) implies, individual stability precedes social stability. Multinational businesses like Zemurray’s United Fruit Company owe their hosting societies the obligation to act in a sustainable and socially responsible manner that would empower the locals. The use of propaganda by Zemurray was not ethically justified as it destabilized the broader society and led to a strained relationship between the majority Latin American nations and their American neighbors which persists the present.
Rigoberta Menchu, a Quiche Indian woman native to Guatemala, is a recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize for politically reaching out to her country and her people. In her personal testimony tittled “I, Rigoberta Menchu” we can see how she blossomed into the Nobel Prize winner she is today. Following a great deal in her father’s footsteps, Rigoberta’s mobilization work, both within and outside of Guatemala, led to negotiations between the guerillas and the government and reduced the army power within Guatemala. Her work has helped bring light to the strength of individuals and citizen organization in advocacy and policy dialogue on the world scale. In a brief summary of the book I will explore why Rigoberta Menchu is important to Guatemalan development, what she did, and how she helped her people overcome the obstacles thrown their way.
“"Propaganda is as powerful as heroin, it surreptitiously dissolves all capacity to think” by Gil Courtemanche connects to the sad fact of using propaganda as a deadly weapon to feed people with false information and stop them from thinking. George Orwell’s novel, 1984 describes a totalitarian dystopia society where the Party is constantly brainwashing its citizens with information that is beneficial to its own rights. On the opposite side people are working for the party just like dominated slaves for their masters without knowing of what’s going on. But, in order for the party to achieve this goal they have to use different techniques of propaganda in Oceania to create fear for people so that they can obey the rules. The use of propaganda
This essay will study the Central Intelligence Agency’s intervention in Guatemala, and how they assisted Colonel Carlos Castillo Armas in the coup d’état against Jacobo Arbenz. It will describe the reasons of the intervention, the United States’ interest in Guatemala, and how it affected Guatemalans. Such events help explain much about the role that the United States has in their own migration. The paper argues that the United States’ political interest in Guatemala played a fundamental role in the migration of Guatemalans to its borders. As a result of this intervention, Guatemala suffered one of its worse political periods in their history. Guatemala experienced a period of political instability that led the country into social chaos, where many Guatemalans opted to migrate to the United States.
... to overthrow the democratically elected (1950) Guatemalan leader, Jacobo Arbenz Guzman. Apprehensive of Arbenz’s land reform efforts and the freedom afforded to the communist party under the current regime, President Truman authorized the shipment of weapons and money to anti-Arbenz groups. Within five weeks the operation to topple Arbenz quickly fizzled when representatives loyal to the president uncovered the plot and took steps to solidify their power.
Aldous Huxley’s novel, Brave New World, showcases a world alternate from ours, in a dystopian setting. Where human morals are drastically altered, families, love, history, and art are removed by the government. They used multiple methods to control the people, but no method in the world is more highly used and more effective than propaganda. The world state heavily implemented the use of propaganda to control, to set morals, and to condition the minds of every citizen in their world. However, such uses of propaganda have already been used in our world and even at this very moment.
Take a second to think about the word propaganda. What comes to mind? Do events such as World War II or The Cold War? According to The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, propaganda is a noun which means “the systematic propagation of a doctrine or cause or of information reflecting the views and interests of those advocating such a doctrine or cause.” In other words, propaganda, in this particular definition, is viewed as the deliberate transmission of an idea or document that a group of people believe in. This definition suits the description of propaganda in the novel 1984 by George Orwell. The Inner Party is pushing the concept of “Big Brother,” the ultimate leader. But words can have multiple meanings and can leave room for interpretation. In an alternate definition, from The Analysis of Propaganda by W. Hummell and K. Huntress, propaganda is defined in a different manner:
In the article, "Propaganda Techniques in Today's Advertising" the author, Anne McClintock, introduces the notion that she thinks as individuals we’re “all victims” without realizing it. To add, McClintock goes onto explain the origins of propaganda and hence why it has a direct effect with us. As a result, she brings up the fact that even those that think don’t think they can be engorged by propaganda are the main individuals that are affected by propagandists. Overall, McClintock goes on to explain the dynamics of propaganda including, how advertisements of renowned companies entrap us with various methods of propaganda.
In the book, Propaganda, author Edward L Bernays, who is nephew of Sigmund Freud, transcends the public relation industry. This short, 13-part instructional manual delves deep into the intricacies and usage of propaganda. Bernays claims that the public is in a constant state of manipulation. He argues that in order for a society to be highly functioning and stable, public opinion must be manipulated and swayed. While I find his claims disturbing, it was refreshing to read something so blunt. Bernays’ use of psychological techniques to work the mechanics of public opinion truly classifies him as the “father of public relations.”
Throughout the past 60 to 70 years there has been speculation as to the involvement of the United States in the overthrowing of Jacobo Arbenz’ regime. The United States, through the CIA, although not officially confirmed, did participate in overthrowing Arbenz and his government. It was because of Arbenz’ land reforms, including that of United Fruit Co., that the CIA decided to invade Guatemala. They intervened to prevent Guatemala from falling to Communism by invading her to overthrow Arbenz’ government, which they believed was already following Communistic ideals. The main reason the intervention has been criticized is because it makes it confusing for people to know whether the CIA’s intervention actually helped Guatemala. The CIA’s intervention
Pratkanis, A. (2002). Age of propaganda: the everyday use and abuse of persuasion. New York: W.H. Freeman.
“ All animals are equal but some are more equal than others.” This quote from George Orwell's book, Animal Farm, is one of the mottos that the pigs from the story would use to convince the other farm animals to do what they say. This type of manipulation is known as a propaganda. A propaganda is information used to promote or publicize a particular political cause or point of view. Although some believe that propagandas are ineffective, this commonly isn't the case because there are a variety of ways that propagandas have been shown to be potent in both history and current events.
From any corner in the world you will be surrounded by propaganda: in the streets, in your house, even when you’re driving. Propaganda appears in many forms but I personally believe it to be the shaping of public beliefs, in which communication is used with the intention of manipulating. In short, propaganda is the art of brainwash. This form of art has been going for many centuries and has played an important role in the history of art, especially during the 20th century in which propaganda was used to persuade people to join the military service or to stand for their countries during wartime. At that time the objective was only one, nowadays there is more than one objective; how does propaganda influence the way 21st century society pre-establishes ideas and makes contradictions within taboos such as tattoos, marijuana and sexuality?
... Propaganda and Mass Persuasion: A Historical Encyclopedia 1500 to the Present. ABC-CLIO. 2003. Google Books. Web.12 April 2011.
While the word has gained a bad reputation due to its connections with the Nazi propaganda machine, in Edward Bernays’ time, propaganda purely meant information that was used to sway people to a particular cause. While not an entirely negative idea in and of itself, propaganda has historically been (and still remains) an important political tool that is used to maintain and protect certain systems and ideologies. Propaganda is especially important to maintaining the system of capitalism. It is used to persuade the public that capitalism is not only a good, beneficial system, but also a necessary system, a system that promotes and preserves the American ideals of freedom, liberty, and expression. Propaganda also says that capitalism guarantees access to the things that are needed, but also to the things that aren’t needed. This propaganda says that capitalism breeds wealth and luxury, making it accessible to everyone. As a consequence, this propaganda also breeds a desire for wealth and luxury, an insatiable desire that keeps the public locked into a quest for class mobility. Propaganda says that hard work is rewarded, teaches that one earns their station in life and that it is possible to “move on up.” This propaganda can be found everywhere, from books to movies to television and movies, from advertisements to public institutions to individual conversations born from internalized capitalistic
Propaganda “is a mode of communication aimed at influencing the attitude of a community toward some cause or position”(Stokoe) It is ever present throughout human history, and it isn't always a bad thing. Governments and industries alike use propaganda to push an agenda. Most people equate the word 'propaganda' with lies and leaders such as Hitler and Kim Jun Il. It is undoubtedly true that when a government decides exactly what is said to the people there is room for corruption and general doubt about the motives behind the information released. Regardless of whether the motive is 'good' or 'bad', propaganda, the controlling of the output of information is used to control those who hear or view it. Political campaigns use propaganda to win elections. They exploit current issues, and past events to paint a picture that, while it may be slightly true, completely exaggerates the issue or situations. This is done in order to persuade the voter to change their mind about the opponent, or reenforce their opinion. In cults vulnerabilities ar...