Covid-19 is classic agitation propaganda

Ir occurred to me today as we were out and about that what is going on around us is classic “agitation propaganda,” or “agitprop.” How could I not see this? It is a classic fear campaign. Amazingly, if you put the word “agitprop” in a search engine, you will find that it is something that they used to do in the Soviet Union. No mention is given to its existence here even as right now, this moment, we are in an intensive and psychologically aggressive agitprop campaign.

What is the purpose of agitprop? For that I consulted Jacques Ellul – I took many notes years ago from his 1965 book Propaganda. His statement of purpose is somewhat sobering (covered in pages 70-74):

“Propaganda of agitation addresses itself … to … internal elements in each of us, but it is always translated into reality by physical involvement in a tense and overexcited activity. By making the individual participate in this activity, the propagandist releases the internal breaks, the psychological barriers of habit, belief, and judgment.

“In all cases, propaganda of agitation tries to stretch energies to the upmost, obtain substantial sacrifices, and induce the individual to bear heavier deals. It takes him out of his everyday life, his normal framework …

“The individual cannot be made to live in a state of perpetual enthusiasm and insecurity. After a certain amount of combat he needs a respite in a familiar universe to which he is accustomed.”

As I read it, the purpose of agitprop is to destroy the individual, make him part of the collective. Did they not cover this in Star Trek – the Borg?

Maybe I recalled this as I wrote that they cannot keep up this high level of intensity without destroying psyches. People need a relief from the constant tension, anxiety and fear. In other parts of the book, he said that people literally need propaganda to survive, as the world is incomprehensible without it, but that agitprop (as opposed to integration propaganda) does permanent damage to the brain. I see this all about, the fake mass shootings, especially those staged in schools, leave people in a permanent state of fugue. Their attitude becomes “what next?”, or as Dorothy Parker (is said to have) said, “What fresh hell is this?” No one can relax, something bad is always in store for us.

So we are in the midst of a planned and intense campaign of agitation. Our best refuge is our inner selves, meditation if you meditate and prayer if you pray, and continued contact with other sober people you know (I have my wife) and the people here, at Fakeologist, and even CTTF and Mathis. They know what is up as well as anyone. The goal is inner peace in a tumultuous and psychically violent environment.

Also, please list other useful sites you go to for our benefit.

I clipped a few more snippets from the Ellul book – I at one time had extensive notes from the entire book, but lost them in a computer crash. I started over, but only got to page 188. Then I quit. He’s a tough read first time through. Second time was too much. These are just some of his random thoughts I thought to be repeatable.

However, confronted by a necessity, man must become aware of [propaganda], if he is to master it. As long as man denies the inevitability of a phenomenon, as long as he avoids facing up to it, he will go astray. He will delude himself, by submitting in fact to “necessity” while pretending he is free “in spite of it,” and simply because he claims to be free. Only when he realizes his delusions will he experience the beginning of genuine freedom – in the act of realization itself – be it only from the effort to stand back and look squarely at the phenomenon and reduce it to raw fact. Pxvi (Introduction by Conrad Kellen)

Moreover, … public opinion, when produced by propaganda, is artificial. It corresponds to nothing authentic; yet it is precisely this artificial opinion that the individual absorbs. He is filled with it; he no longer expresses his ideas, but those of his group, and with great fervor at that – it is a propaganda prerequisite that he should assert them with firmness and conviction. He absorbs the collective judgments, and creatures of propaganda; he absorbs them like nourishment which they have, in fact, become. He expounds them as his own. He takes a vigorous stand, begins to oppose others. He asserts himself at the very moment that he denies his own self without realizing it. When he recites his propaganda lesson and says that he is thinking for himself, when his eyes sees nothing and his mouth only produces sounds previously stenciled onto his brain, when he says that he is indeed expressing his judgment – the he really demonstrates that he no longer thinks at all, ever, and that he does not exist as a person. P171

Philippe de Felice [Foules en delire, extases collectives (Paris: A Michel; 1947), Ch 4] has said that propaganda creates a tendency to manic-depressive (cyclothymic) neurosis. This is obviously an exaggeration, but it is true that propaganda puts the individual through successive periods of exaltation and depression, caused by exposing him to alternate propaganda themes. We have already analyzed the necessity for alternating themes, for example, alternating those of terror and self-assertion. The result is a continuous emotional contrast, which can become very dangerous for individuals exposed to it. Like the shock of contradictory propaganda, this can be one of the causes if psychic dissociation, though it does not have to lead to mental illness, and Felice suggests. P178-179

Remember that propaganda seeks to induce action, adherence, and participation – with as little thought as possible. According to propaganda, it is useless, even harmful for a man to think; thinking prevents him from acting with the required righteousness and simplicity. Action must come from the depths of subconscious; it must release tension, become a reflex. P180

Particularly after propaganda of fear and terror, the listener is left in a state of emotional tensions which cannot be relieved by kind words or suggestions. Only action can resolve the conflict in which he was thrown. In the same way, purely critical and negative propaganda seeks to stiffen the individual against his environment; it plays on and stimulates the instinctive feelings of aggression and frustration. But even here the effect can only be one of two: either the individual will become more aggressive towards the symbols of authority in his group or culture, or he will be crushed by anxiety and reduced to passivity because he cannot stand discord and opposition. P188

16 thoughts on “Covid-19 is classic agitation propaganda

    1. I liked that movie! I think its subtext was communism, how subversion by a foreign element could easily take over a society. What was the Red Scare if not propaganda? I say that knowing that the original movie was made in 1956, the height of the postwar Red Scare. You make a nice reference.

      Like

  1. I have that book, probably was referenced by John Adams/ Hoaxbusterscall.co (recommended listening with host Chris Kendall.) Enlightening, but at the same time (as in many of those quotes) can be frustrating to try to tease out hus exact meaning. Maybe because it’s translated, or just his style.

    And I’m unclear on your gloss as well… : )
    You say agitprop is to absorb the individual into the collective. The Borg. But then how is that different from integration propaganda?

    Like

    1. OK, here goes, and damned good question: I regard one as benign (integration) and the other as aggressive. Integration propaganda is pledge of allegiance and false history, founding fathers and love of country. It makes us part of a whole. Even if everything is a lie, are we harmed? Without it we are adrift.

      Agitprop is used for an immediate objective, as to get us ramped up to go to war, for instance. It is an assault on the senses, as Saddam Hussein said to have used using chemical weapons against his own people, creates intense anger. I think it does long-term damage, and after it is spent, people have to heal, settle in and settle down again. It should be used sparingly, but in my life, it is a routine occurrence, Covid-19 only the most recent campaign. This has much to do with the American people being so addlebrained. Their cerebral cortexes are starved, amygdala’s always on call.

      Like

      1. Thanks, that is helpful.

        Surprised this post doesn’t get more comments, with all those great Ellul quotes. Maybe his brilliance stuns people into silence, ha.

        Like

  2. This is a dumb question, and probably the wrong place for it … Maybe someone knows …

    How is a COVID-19 test kit different from any other flu test kit (= a Q-tip thing and a packet of preservative to stick it in after swabbing)?

    Isn’t any flu test kit a COVID-19 test kit? The only difference would be found at the labs where they analyze these things, no?

    Why is there a shortage specifically of COVID-19 test kits then?

    Like

  3. I was just reading about this. Try this link and scroll down to item #3, where it explains why the test they use, polymerase chain reaction test, or PCR, invented in the 1980s to test for HIV, cannot distinguish one virus from another or measure virus load. It looks for proteins it thinks are associated with Covid-19, and is, as I read it in other literature, wrong about 40% of the time.

    https://thedoctorwithin.com/blog/2020/03/10/newsletter-march-2020/

    As always, you are charged with applying your own brainpower without reliance on experts. God be with ye.

    Beyond that, Covid-19 has not been isolated or purified, and does not pass Koch’s Postulates. The thing I find curious, and they did this with AIDS and ZIKA, is a magical virus trick, that its mere presence causes diseases. They do not explain how.

    Anyway, tomorrow I an going to organize and sort all the many links I have come across and put them in one post with descriptions. I cannot navigate AB’s site anymore. He’s been doing yeoman’s labor on this but has changed the format of his site. Have I mentioned I am retired?

    Like

  4. Actually when I browse through Facebook posts, it kind of strikes me as very “integration propaganda” for all the believers. Yes they’re anxious and agitated, but their shared belief and ritual actions create affirming solidarity. They feel part of the group. They commiserate about chapped hands and their worry at the slightest sniffle. The group is strongly affirmed. They laugh at themselves too, even as they continue to believe the storyline. Huddled under their schooldesks, of course they feel ridiculous, but it “makes sense” in light of the trust they have in authorities and experts.

    Like

  5. Author Unknown.

    The COVID-19 hysteria is pushing aside our protections as individual citizens and permanently harming our free, tolerant, open civil society. Data is data. Facts are facts. We should be focused on resolving COVID-19 with continued testing, measuring, and be vigilant about protecting those with underlying conditions and the elderly from exposure. We are blessed in one way, there is an election in November. Never forget what happened and vote.

    You may ask yourself. Who is this guy? Who is this author? I’m a nobody. That is also the point. The average American feels utterly powerless right now. I’m an individual American who sees his community and loved ones being decimated without given a choice, without empathy, and while the media cheers on with high ratings.

    When this is all over, look for massive confirmation bias and pyrrhic celebration by elites. There will be vain cheering in the halls of power as Main Street sits in pieces. Expect no apology, that would be political suicide. Rather, expect to be given a Jedi mind trick of “I’m the government and I helped.”

    The health of the State will be even stronger with more Americans dependent on welfare, another trillion stimulus filled with pork for powerful friends, and a bailout for companies that charged us $200 change fees for nearly a decade. Washington DC will be fine. New York will still have all of the money in the world. Our communities will be left with nothing but a shadow of the longest bull market in the history of our country.

    Like

  6. No one knows the future, not even your anonymous writer. Why would an author be unknown? Far more likely, you don’t want to name him. Why?

    You obviously believe the virus is real, and so does your scribe. Ergo, I choose to ignore anything you might think about a future where a nonexistent bug has wreaked havoc.

    I think the blueprint for Covid-19 is CO2, invisible, everywhere, insidious, doing infinite fake harm that no one can see. I therefore point my finger at the Club of Rome, who gave us Global Warming. Maybe they got impatient. The Global Warming agenda was slow and slowing, while Covid-19 achieves all the same objectives, placing an overarching government in place and eliminating countries. And it is all happening before mid-April!

    But I also think that was fait accompli. They are only now slamming the door on us.

    Like

Leave a comment