{"id":8173,"date":"2017-02-15T08:45:48","date_gmt":"2017-02-15T14:45:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/elbertcounty.net\/blog\/?p=8173"},"modified":"2017-02-15T08:45:48","modified_gmt":"2017-02-15T14:45:48","slug":"boldfaced-american-propaganda","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/elbertcounty.net\/blog\/2017\/02\/boldfaced-american-propaganda\/","title":{"rendered":"Boldfaced American propaganda"},"content":{"rendered":"

Speech and ideation control targeting young Americans<\/h4>\n

Reported by: Discoverthenetworks.org<\/a><\/h5>\n

“Indivisible<\/strong> is an organization that seeks to persuade Americans \u2013 particularly young people<\/strong> \u2013 to believe that big, centralized government can benefit society in a multitude of ways that the private sector cannot. In short, Indivisible’s objective is to \u201cenergiz[e]<\/a>\u00a0and infor[m] Americans about government\u2019s potential\u201d to ensure \u201ca safe, healthy, just and prosperous future\u201d for all. Asserting that \u201ctoo much<\/a> time is taken up debating big government versus small government,\u201d Indivisible contends\u00a0that \u201cwhat we need to be discussing is how our government works well,\u201d and why it is indispensable for \u201caccomplishing big things.\u201d<\/p>\n

In an effort to \u201cinspire a cultural shift in how Americans think about the role of government in America,\u201d Indivisible is committed to \u201cdisrupting and reframing negative media discourse about government,\u201d \u201ccreating a network of champions to change the conversation about government in their communities,\u201d and \u201ctraining the next generation of civic-minded leaders.\u201d Toward these ends, the organization has created an Indivisible Institute<\/a> that administers a leadership-development program for young people \u201cwho share a passion for reclaiming government as our unique tool for addressing tomorrow\u2019s challenges and opportunities.\u201d These \u201cemerging leaders\u201d are taught how \u201cto help … build a new American culture\u201d wherein \u201cthe potential and promise of government\u201d is axiomatic.<\/p>\n

One of Indivisible’s major projects is its \u201cPave the Way<\/a>\u201d video\u00a0contest, whose name derives from the notion that government is \u201cliterally paving<\/a> our way with road construction and interstates.\u201d This contest offers cash prizes to young people who produce quality videos of interviews wherein small-business owners tell\u00a0\u201chow government paved the way for their business\u2019 success\u201d by means of things like the GI Bill, the Affordable Care Act<\/a>, Small Business Administration loan programs, and infrastructure spending.<\/p>\n

Another key\u00a0initiative of Indivisible is its \u201cI Love My<\/a>\u201d program, which offers information<\/a> and talking points designed to highlight the many benefits of government. On the premise\u00a0that \u201cit\u2019s amazing<\/a> how much government is doing behind the scenes to make our lives better every day,\u201d Indivisible argues that the media should make a special effort to \u201cshow<\/a>\u00a0[that] our public systems and structures [are]\u00a0usually so well run that we don\u2019t notice them at all.\u201d One such structure, says Indivisible, is the U.S. Postal Service<\/a>, which \u201cmakes our businesses better,\u201d \u201chelps our communities function,\u201d \u201cmakes our democracy work,\u201d and \u201cis the reason our country works at all.\u201d<\/p>\n

Similarly, another section of the\u00a0\u201cI Love My\u201d program teaches<\/a>\u00a0people to how to speak about taxes in a way that emphasizes their usefulness in\u00a0helping government to serve \u201cthe common good,\u201d rather than in a way that casts\u00a0them in a negative light. \u201cDon\u2019t talk about taxes as a ‘burden<\/a>‘ or something from which we need ‘relief,’\u201d Indivisible advises. \u201cThese [terms] are inherently negative and they cue up the dominant thinking that taxes are bad. Instead, talk about taxes as ‘loads’ to be carried or shared.\u201d Moreover, says Indivisible: \u201cDon\u2019t call people ‘taxpayers<\/a>‘ \u2013 it limits the conversation to only one side of the ledger (costs, not benefits). Instead, talk about people as ‘residents’ or ‘citizens’ or ‘member[s] of our community’ \u2013 it highlights that we are all people who both contribute to and benefit from public systems and structures.\u201d<\/p>\n

Indivisible’s \u201cMy Take<\/a>\u201d program features interviews where \u201creal people\u201d are asked to articulate \u201ctheir feelings [about] government\u201d and their various interactions with it. For example, the interviewees are asked:\u00a0(a) \u201cWhat is your favorite thing that government does?\u201d (b) \u201cWho is your government hero who is not an elected official?\u201d (c) \u201cWhat thing that government does do you think would surprise most Americans?\u201d<\/p>\n

Indivisible’s \u201cReality Check<\/a>\u201d program seeks to \u201cexpos[e] the reality behind myths and misunderstandings about government,\u201d which ultimately serves as \u201cour tool<\/a> to help us solve big problems together.\u201d<\/p>\n

Reclaiming Government for America\u2019s Future<\/a><\/em>\u00a0is an Indivisible research project consisting of reports, videos, and webinars that aim to counter the popular\u00a0notion<\/a>\u00a0that government \u201cis too big, intrusive, untrustworthy, and controlled by powerful elites\u201d who have little interest in using it as \u201ca tool for the common good.\u201d Topos Partnership<\/a> conducted this research on behalf<\/a> of Indivisible, Public Works, and a number of partner organizations in Oregon, North Carolina, Nebraska, Michigan, Arkansas, and Colorado.\u00a0The overarching objective of the project is to\u00a0spell out<\/a> ways in which progressives can effectively \u201cshift conversations and begin to change the cultural common sense about government.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Speech and ideation control targeting young Americans Reported by: Discoverthenetworks.org “Indivisible is an organization that seeks to persuade Americans \u2013 particularly young people \u2013 to believe that big, centralized government can benefit society in a multitude of ways that the private sector cannot. In short, Indivisible’s objective is to \u201cenergiz[e]\u00a0and infor[m] Americans about government\u2019s potential\u201d […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[344,212,346,67,26],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-8173","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-indivisible","7":"category-leftists","8":"category-organizing-for-action","9":"category-propaganda","10":"category-totalitarianism","11":"entry"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/elbertcounty.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8173","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/elbertcounty.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/elbertcounty.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/elbertcounty.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/elbertcounty.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8173"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/elbertcounty.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8173\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8179,"href":"https:\/\/elbertcounty.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8173\/revisions\/8179"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/elbertcounty.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8173"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/elbertcounty.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8173"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/elbertcounty.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8173"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}