The Potential Danger Political Slogans
Mar 3, 2020 20:41:23 GMT -5
Post by Radrook Admin on Mar 3, 2020 20:41:23 GMT -5
The Potential Danger of Political Slogans
A slogan is a memorable motto or phrase used in a clan, political, commercial, religious, and other context as a repetitive expression of an idea or purpose, with the goal of persuading members of the public or a more defined target group. The Oxford Dictionary of English defines a slogan as "a short and striking or memorable phrase used in advertising." A slogan usually has the attributes of being memorable, very concise and appealing to the audience.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slogan
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slogan
Sounds acceptably decent and inoffensive-doesn't it? So what could possibly be dangerous about a slogan? Well, slogans foment emotion such as joy, love, admiration, and hatred. These emotions in turn, can easily create what is known as a herd mentality.
Ever see a frightened herd steer mindlessly stampede and mindlessly trample trample everything in their way in those cowboy films? The human herd mentality works in very similar way. A mindset driven by irrational emotion is gradually evoked, reasoning is suspended and they plunge towards a goal. .
Humans are not cattle of course. Humans can reason. However, most people who chant them have not usually taken the needed time to investigated the validity of what is being proposed but blindly trust the source as truthful.
An example of such herd mentality blind trust can be found in Okinawa when many Okinawan citizens committed suicide because they trusted what the Japanese had said about the cruelty of the American invaders. Undoubtedly wartime-slogans were being used in order to firmly implant that idea in the minds of the gullible who paid with their lives for their blind trust. Another example is how Germans rallied behind Hitler's final solution during WWII in reference to the Jews.
Slogans can also be seriously misinterpreted and used to commit injustices against other citizens. Because of this, it is very essential that the source of the slogan be very clear on what exactly is being said and about the limits that apply to the slogan's interpretation.
If the slogan creator fails to clarify, as he should, then he might be misunderstood as encouraging whatever outrageous misunderstandings are being reached. In fact, such silence might eventually lead them to believe that the slogan's originator sees no misunderstandings whatsoever but is in full approval of them and is encouraging them. An example of this is how certain Americans are understanding the MAGA slogan as an excuse to discriminate against minorities and how the present POTUS seems unable to clarify in order to reduce the misunderstandings.
Ever see a frightened herd steer mindlessly stampede and mindlessly trample trample everything in their way in those cowboy films? The human herd mentality works in very similar way. A mindset driven by irrational emotion is gradually evoked, reasoning is suspended and they plunge towards a goal. .
Humans are not cattle of course. Humans can reason. However, most people who chant them have not usually taken the needed time to investigated the validity of what is being proposed but blindly trust the source as truthful.
An example of such herd mentality blind trust can be found in Okinawa when many Okinawan citizens committed suicide because they trusted what the Japanese had said about the cruelty of the American invaders. Undoubtedly wartime-slogans were being used in order to firmly implant that idea in the minds of the gullible who paid with their lives for their blind trust. Another example is how Germans rallied behind Hitler's final solution during WWII in reference to the Jews.
Slogans can also be seriously misinterpreted and used to commit injustices against other citizens. Because of this, it is very essential that the source of the slogan be very clear on what exactly is being said and about the limits that apply to the slogan's interpretation.
If the slogan creator fails to clarify, as he should, then he might be misunderstood as encouraging whatever outrageous misunderstandings are being reached. In fact, such silence might eventually lead them to believe that the slogan's originator sees no misunderstandings whatsoever but is in full approval of them and is encouraging them. An example of this is how certain Americans are understanding the MAGA slogan as an excuse to discriminate against minorities and how the present POTUS seems unable to clarify in order to reduce the misunderstandings.