Why are Americans so easily influenced by propaganda?

My parents and grandparents lived through the civil rights struggle in this country- the fire hoses and all that. They fought, survived and overcame through critical thinking.

Struggle is the opposite of complacency. So at my dinner table we discussed politics, propaganda, truth and lies. So I learned to think critically as part of my culture.

Complacency is what makes your mind weak and malleable. So it stands to reason that if you grew up in a complacent household, and your parents were complacent in their childhood while America was still an apartheid state, that you don't naturally think critically. You believe what the powers that be tell you.

P.S. THIS is why Obama recieved 90+% of the black vote. Critical thinking.

Lets start way back before tv, when there was only radio. Back then, only true, non biased news could be told to the general public. The news was fact checked before it hit the airways. People knew that if they heard it, there was an honest and truth to it. Same thing could be said for newspapers.

Enter the TV age. Back when only Dad worked, and everyone in the house gathered in the living room to watch only one tv. The news, for the first time, presented an image. You could see the seriousness in the new caster, he wore a suit, he looked professional. He meant business. They would show clips (or newsreels) and people, for the first time, got a first hand glimpse of what he was talking about.

As we progressed out of that time, and into the 60-70's (a major civil rights era) people started to question the news, the government, the country as a whole. People wanted answers that the nightly news just wouldn't talk about. Along came the underground newspapers. First just in college campuses, but soon, all over the place. People ate this up. Sure, it was biased, most of them, but it was what people WEREN'T telling you. Finally, the people had a voice.

The media wasn't blind to this of course, they started to change the news a bit. Instead of just plain news, you got a commentary, an editorial, someone who was an "expert" with their opinion. The news changed from straight forward presentation to "exposing" stories. Now with satelites, they didn't have to wait, they could give you information as it happened. Before you knew it, stations competed so much with each other for who could get it to you the fastest, no longer did they fact check. They could always do it later. Even now, they brag about getting it to you first. Meanwhile, the stories of curruption, dirty politicians, and the like made high ratings. The media isn't stupid. They learned to cash in. In the media "if it bleeds, it leads" is a very well known saying. The more negative, the more dirty, the more viewers. And isnt' great when it fits your agenda.

Along comes the internet. Much like the 60-70's, the people have an uncensored voice, yet again. Instead of just listening to two or three stations fight it out with each other with their biased commentary, people can find news from all over the world. The media is quick to jump in on this as well. Soon, they are hosting sites and people tune in. Because the internet doesn't have to adhere to the same FCC guidelines, these major media outlets can pretty much say and do whatever they want.

Slowly and surely, the average person is so bombared with mass media that has a biased edge to it, they either have a choice. They can believe it (as it must be true, its on the news), question it (research it for themselves, takes too much time), or find somewhere else to get the news (usually one that suits their liking as every outlet now has a purpose, a bias and a following).

People have become brainwashed in a way. Being constantly bombared with it tends to do that. The same can be said about advertising (getting you to buy stuff you don't really need).

That sad thing is people accept it because some don't know they have a choice.

Americans are far less influenced by political propaganda than they were in the 2000 presidential election.

Just ask Karl Rove.

His wedge issue propaganda politics don't work any where near as well as they did just 8 years ago.

Karl Rove has found that he hasn't found a way to push the buttons of the young people as he would like to.

They are open to gay marriage and are pro choice for the most part so those two issues don't work for the Republicans getting the young vote.

When Americans voted for George W. in 2000, they voted for a personality as opposed to an intellect.

In 2004 they voted for a president in the middle of a war and voted against a flip-flop anti-war elitist in John Kerry.

The political factors are so much different this time around and will continue to change quickly.

Karl Rove made a good choice to become a commentator of political action as opposed to continue being a political operative (propagandist) on a playing field he has a hard time even recognizing anymore.

I'm proud to be an American and Republican. I do agree with you though to a certain extent. Our media outlets make us live in fear. They exaggerate things and make people scared. Awhile back with the Killer Bees outbreak, supposedly these bees were going to come and kill everyone. With the war that's going on, they talk about how awful it is and how our troops are getting killed. Well, our troops area going over there willingly and THEY ARE HEREOS for protecting us. There is more good going on then what the media leads us to believe. Just like with our president, he's supposedly this awful person but what they don't dwell on is how the seneate is mainly controlled by the democrats. I support our country and wouldn't want to live anywhere else but I do think that our media likes to exaggerate things too much.

Most people don't do any research they rely only the media. Scary. You can tell the ones because all they know are the "talking points". Have you ever noticed who all of the sponsors are on all of the major networks? Drug companies, oil companies, insurance companies, and financial companies. Next time you watch, notice this. Then wonder how much influence they actually have over the news.

I agree that there is often a motive behind the actions of political parties but I don't understand why people can't look into the accusations with an open mind because sometimes they are true.

I wish the press would cover the HUGE story that Obama likely isn't qualified to be president because he was born in Kenya. There are about 15 lawsuits about this. Presidential candidate Alan Keyes filed suit about it yesterday. NBC is the only one that covered it, and just a few words about it. The stupid public will not look up things for themselves and figures if the liberal press doesn't cover a story, it can't be true. I hope there will not be too many riots when Obama is dethroned for not being US born.

Because most are uniformed, and ignorant of whats going on. They are lazy and want to be spoon fed. And one more important thing our media is tainted and corrupt.

Some americans don't know how to think for themselves and spend to much time sedentary in front of the TV and are very desperate and easily manipulated and I guess don't have time to inform themselves enough.

It was Eric Hoffer, the author of the book "Propaganda," who said:

"No one is more susceptible to propaganda than a man who thinks himself above the influence of propaganda."

I guess that would be you.