Propaganda Surrounds Our Lives

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From the moment the sunrises until the time the moon and stars glisten in the night sky, propaganda surrounds society whether it is on advertising posters or rumors spreading around. Wikipedia defines propaganda as “a form of communication aimed towards influencing the attitude of the community toward some cause or position by presenting only one side of an argument.” Joseph Stalin used this technique to obtain power, control the lives of the people, and prevent rebellions against him. Napoleon from the short fable “Animal Farm” also used propaganda in order to acquire the same objectives. Napoleon and Joseph Stalin accomplished this by showing examples of propaganda whether it being ad hominem, ad nauseam, or fear.
Ad hominem propaganda was Stalin’s most common tactic to defeat any opponent. Ad hominem propaganda is when a person is attacking their opponent rather than their opponent's perspective (“Propaganda”, 1 ). Joseph Stalin despised Lenin and wanted to get rid of him. Eventually Stalin had gained power and support from the communist party; he was finally able to dispose of Lenin by exiling him from Russia.
Another type of propaganda Stalin used was ad nauseam. Ad nauseam is when one repeats an idea multiple times to the point where people accept it (“Propaganda”, 1). He would mold this idea into the minds of the young through their education. If children are taught from a young age to strongly believe something, most will accept it and not question whether it is right or wrong. Stalin would have libraries purged of any book mentioning or promoting any works of Lenin. The children were even taught not to be similar to their own parents. By using as nauseam propaganda, Joseph Stalin was able to keep many of the rebels of...

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...t they would learn from the others’ mistakes that it is better to be dead than go against Napoleon. The fear made the animals lose all hope for rebelling against Napoleon. Fear controlled them and prevented happiness from enriching their daily lives; therefore kept them under Napoleon’s control.
Through the use of different methods of propaganda, both Napoleon and Joseph Stalin were able to maintain their power, control their people, and prevent rebellions. Their tactics of propaganda varied from ad hominem to ad nauseam, and fear at times. These two males were able to control people by only showing the good perspective of a situation. The citizens did not even grow suspicious until years after the dictators had seized power. The malicious leaders put on their fair facade but were conspiring behind their peoples’ back; benefiting only themselves.

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