Propaganda, Stereotypes, and the War on Drugs
The West has constantly been fighting the use of illegal drugs for decades by Propaganda. Propaganda ‘is a form of manipulative communication designed to elicit some predetermined response’ (Inge, 1981, 322). Governments have been using many propagandistic methods to reduce the consumption of illegal drugs such as marginalization or creating stereotypes. By creating a certain stereotype for the drug users and dealers, governments believe that people would try to avoid drugs so they won’t fit the stereotype. Extensive researche has been performed on this issue and there was no support that this propaganda tactic made a significant difference in the use of illegal drugs.
To understand the reason behind the anti-drug movement and the development of stereotypes, one should know the history of the prohibition of certain drugs. One of the first drugs that were prohibited was Opium. This was due to the large amount of Chinese immigrants which consumed opium.
“Powerful labor unions such as the American Federation of labor feared competition from Chinese laborers who were quite hard working and generally willing to work for lower wages. Labor Leaders vilified the Chinese as opium-crazed fiends who preyed sexually upon young white girls” (Preston, 2001).
Since then individuals who consume opiates carried the stereotype of being rapists and evil-doers. In the early twentieth century, minority groups such as African-Americans and Mexican-Americans consumed marijuana. One of the main reasons marijuana was prohibited was to ‘drive Mexican-Americans out of the United States and “back” to Mexico’ (Blum, 1997).To create prejudice against Mexican-Americans, a stereotype was formed which...
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The Military Orders, including the Templars and Hospitallers, were created to protect pilgrims on the route to Jerusalem, but grew into ranks of professional soldiers with a great presence in the East, answerable to the Papacy. These orders “grew rapidly and acquired castles at strategic points in the kingdom and northern states. […] They were soon established in Europe as well, they became international organizations, virtually independent, sanctioned and constantly supported by the papacy” (Madden). The Pope possessed, for the first time, a dedicated military force in Europe. These two outcomes indicate the growth of the Church’s power as a result of the First Crusade, and support the proposition that the Papacy intended it as a way for advancing its political and economic position.
Ayn Rand’s Anthem is a politically satirical novel is set in a future society that is so highly collectivized that the word “I” has been banned. The world is governed by various councils who believe that man’s sole reason for existence is to enforce the Great Truth “that all men are one and that there is no will save the will of all men together” (Rand, 20). Any indication of an individual’s independent spirit is swiftly and brutally put down, with the transgressors being punished with severe prison sentences or even death.
Erving Goffman said the dramaturgical analysis “would lead us to describe the techniques of impression management employed in a given establishment, the principal problems of impression management in the establishment, and the identity and interrelationship of the several performance teams which operate in the establishment” (240). Goffman compares social interactions with an act, there is the actors, the audience, and the stage. For different plays the actors take on a new role just as with varying groups someone might portray themselves
As a teenager, I have come across recent discoveries of myself and the world, the thirst to gain more knowledge, new responsibilities, and orders from elders. It is the overwhelming combination of these things that occasionally hit me with the feeling of being enslaved, chained to the world, my home, and my family. These expectations and dictations are restrictions, but they do not represent true slavery. True slavery controls every aspect of a man; the dictator must enslave the man’s body and destroy his mind. This effort to completely subdue humanity is exemplified by the leaders and society of Ayn Rand’s Anthem. In this novel, the leaders try to suppress the actions, emotions, and thoughts of the people in an attempt to destroy both mind and body.
“The fact that war is the word we use for almost everything—on terrorism, drugs, even poverty—has certainly helped to desensitize us to its invocation; if we wage wars on everything, how bad can they be?”- Glenn Greenwald. The use of drugs through out the United States has gotten worse and worse every year, and I know that in the U.S. it is both a health problem and a crime problem. But I feel like that we should treat the abuse of illegal drugs as a matter of public health. It should be treated as a matter of public health over a matter of criminal justice because we can help people that abuse drugs and are addicted. Also well be able to get their lives on track so they won’t have to use drugs again which makes dealers go away because no one is buying their drugs anymore.” The origins and nature of the appeal of anti drug claims must be confronted if we are ever to understand how “drug problems” are constructed in the U.S.”(pg.92) –The Social Construction of Drug Scares
Government has not always seen fit to outlaw psychoactive drugs in the Western world. In fact, there was no prohibition in this country until 1914. Cocaine and Marijuana were both used in the late 19th century both for medicinal and recreational purposes. During this time there was considerable pressure for a ban on alcohol, but narcotics were simply not viewed as a threat to society. N...
Drug use has been an ongoing problem in our country for decades. The use of drugs has been the topic of many political controversies throughout many years. There has been arguments that are for legalizing drugs and the benefits associated with legalization. Also, there are some who are opposed to legalizing drugs and fear that it will create more problems than solve them. Conservatives and liberals often have different opinions for controversial topics such as “the war on drugs,” but it is necessary to analyze both sides in order to gain a full understanding of their beliefs and to decide in a change in policy is in order.
Goffman’s theory of dramaturgy says that there is no self; we are all social actors or con artists and we sell our identity to other people.
Shannon, Elaine. “The War on Drugs: A Losing Battle.” Time.com. Time Magazine, 3 Dec. 2010. Web. 18 Dec. 2011. .
As this paper had explored, US drug prohibition, from its inception, followed by the “war on drugs”, have failed. The repressive strategies found within the drug wars not only are not able to handle the inherently complex nature of the international drug trade, but it, as history has shown, has exasperated the problem. At the national level, the “war on drugs” effects was just as ineffective and detrimental to society with heavy mandatory minimum prison sentences and the world's highest imprisonment rate. In this regards, the drug war was a failure; however, in some other respect, it is a success. It is a success in that drug laws disproportionately affected minorities, especially the black community; moreover, it exclusively targets the lower rungs of society. As this paper has examined, the “war on drugs” is a proxy genocide of the lower class.
The social theorist I chose for this paper is symbolic interactionist Erving Goffman. I chose Erving Goffman because of his intellectual and still relevant research on social behaviour and learning among individuals. He is one of a few social theorists whom I find completely interesting and noteworthy. Not only this, but I found that I wanted to learn more about him and soak in all of his ideas and his work because he is from Canada. I am a very proud Canadian and I am glad that such an influential social theorist whose work is still being put to use today came from the country that I am from. This paper will outline most, if not all, of Goffman’ss most important aspects to social life by providing you with his biography, his ideas, and how his ideas relate to the now, the twenty-first century. → ADD
First written in 1956 by former Sociologist and President of the American Sociological Association, Erving Goffman’s The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life takes a micro-level approach in explaining changes in individual behavior as they relate to various situational contexts within social interaction. Goffman establishes and analyzes the processes by which we change our behavior in order to alter or manage the impressions we give off.
Wolf, M. (2011, June 4). We should declare an end to our disastrous war on drugs. Financial Times. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com.proxy.consortiumlibrary.org/docview/870200965?accountid=14473
Walters, John P. "No surrender: the drug war saves lives." National Review 27 Sept. 2004: 41. Student Edition. Web. 19 Mar. 2014.