META, BETA, VHS... META, BETA, VHS...

[arikara]

43. I've been around for many years

and seen lots of changes around here. We used to have the most current LBN, most interesting GD and we were pretty much united or if not entirely, then at least usually polite to each other. We used to be able to discuss any topic without demanding credentials and published essays to back it up. DU is habit not enjoyment for me now. There is far too much meanness and name calling which effectively shuts down discussion, because any statement which is not acceptably "peer reviewed" is dog piled on. Unfortunate for us here at DU who enjoy looking at more than one side to an issue and learning from differences of opinion.

Which of course is deliberate.

Does this sound familiar?

The 5 Rules of Propaganda

The Rule of Simplification: reducing all data to a simple confrontation between ‘Good and Bad’, ‘Friend and Foe’.
The Rule of Disfiguration: discrediting the opposition by crude smears and parodies.
The Rule of Transfusion: manipulating the consensus values of the target audience for one’s own ends.
The Rule of Unanimity: presenting one’s viewpoint as if it were the unanimous opinion of all right-thinking people: drawing the doubting individual into agreement by the appeal of star-performers, by social pressure, and by ‘psychological contagion’.
The Rule of Orchestration: endlessly repeating the same messages in different variations and combinations.