"The wealthy, not only by private fraud but also by common laws, do every day pluck and snatch away from the people some part of their daily living. Therefore, when I consider and weigh in my mind these commonwealths which nowadays do flourish, I perceive nothing but a certain conspiracy of rich men in procuring their own commodities under the name and authority of the commonwealth.

They invent and devise all means and crafts, first how to keep safely without fear of losing that which they have unjustly gathered together, and next how to hire and abuse the work and labor of the people for as little money and effort as possible."

Thomas More, Utopia

Wednesday, July 18, 2007

The Power of Translation

How many times have you heard that famous quote attributed to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in which he is alleged to have threatened to “wipe Israel off the map”? Too many to count I bet. Well folks that’s how propaganda works. First you properly demonize the enemy in the minds of the cowering masses (he/they/it is a sponsor of terrorism, general hater of goodness, etc), then take his words and twist them into new meanings that further serve the objective of identifying him as an existential threat to survival and thus a legitimate target of attack in “self-defense”. There is a saying—coined by the Nazis over 70 years ago—that if you repeat a lie often enough, it becomes “Truth”.

You are likely to be as fascinated as I was by the following revelations in an article from Anti-War.com about those famous words by Ahmadinejad and how they have managed, like Saddam’s WMD before them, to take on a life (and new meaning) of their own.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Great article, coldie, thanks. Glad to see that "Shadi" is back on track too

be safe,
"lefty"

Coldtype said...

I've been meaning to get back to Shadi. Good to hear she's back. I've got a few good posts in the works as well, stay tuned.