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paco850 In reply to JoshawaFrost [2014-09-08 20:47:42 +0000 UTC]

Thanks bud.
jw

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paco850 In reply to Johnshi [2014-08-21 15:43:53 +0000 UTC]

Hi Johnshi,

Thanks for taking the time to comment.  You have some excellent insights and I'd like to talk more with you as I post more work for the continuum.  If you haven't read my latest journal, check it out as it puts this piece in the context of a greater body of work.  As an individual work, it is only a piece of propaganda, but in the greater body of work that I am making it becomes a part of something much more.  I hope you'll stick around for the ride and offer your opinions as we move forward.

your friend
JW

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Johnshi In reply to paco850 [2014-08-21 16:35:24 +0000 UTC]

Thanks, and I read it with sense of excitement due to the gradual levels of political ideologies as an essential element to the artwork called Master of Fine Arts

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paco850 In reply to Johnshi [2014-08-21 17:24:23 +0000 UTC]

Master of Fine Arts is the Degree I am pursuing.  This is an Exhibition I have to produce and hang in a gallery for the Art Faculty to evaluate to determine if I am ready to have the M.F.A. conferred so that I can graduate.  Basically, I will hang the show and then stand before them and anyone else in the University that wants to come to the show and the faculty will ask me questions regarding the work.  If I answer satisfactorily, they will give me my degree and I can finally leave.  If I don't answer the way the think is fitting of an M.F.A. then I have to come back for another semester and rehang the show and try to resolve some of the issues you they had with my answers.  Still trying to come up with a title for the show itself.  Thanks for the suggestions regarding the type on the actual poster.  Judging from the number of favorites I've gotten on the image itself, I'm getting the feeling that people aren't crazy about the type.  That is a definite weakness for me as a designer.

best
jw

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Johnshi In reply to paco850 [2014-08-21 22:10:31 +0000 UTC]

I see that you can spread it though social media networking and independent media, which should allow you to get the necessary critiques and expectations to further pursue your dream project.

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paco850 In reply to mas2500 [2014-08-21 12:05:10 +0000 UTC]

Hi Mason,

Thanks for commenting.  I checked out your page and if you truly believe the stuff you are putting up over there, then I doubt we will agree on much, but I can be amicable with you despite that.  Before I begin...I would like to stress that while I would lean toward the conservative side of things, politically I consider myself a moderate and I believe politics to be a salad bar from which I can choose from many options.  I don't like tomatoes on my salad, but I do love cucumbers. 

I believe in smaller government, which means lower taxes and fewer laws.  It also means that I have to take responsibility for my thoughts and my actions.  I'm not out to oppress anyone as I have been the victim of said oppression, by liberals particularly in academia where the degree I am seeking must be conferred by committee rather than awarded through completion of a curriculum.  They dangle it in front of me like a carrot on a stick hoping that I will jump through their hoops the way they want me too.

You are a maker of communist propaganda from what I could glean from my brief look at your page.  Somewhere along the way you bought into that philosophy.  Cold War Propaganda would have me believe that all communists are out to subvert the United States, steal it's wealth, enslave it's people, rape it's women and murder it's children.  I was a victim in you youth of this kind of propaganda...I remember vividly how I felt about communists after I watched "Red Dawn" as a young boy.  But it is propaganda and I've come to understand it as a mechanism that takes advantage of irrational and easily motivated people.  Walter Lippman refered to these people as the "Bewildered Herd," the 80% of the population he deemed unable to think for themselves and so must be managed by the 19% of the population who is educated and capable of thought beyond basic emotional reaction.  Of course, the 19% gets to enjoy a slightly better living situation while the 1% currently made up of about 400 billionaires really gets to live the life and taste of everything.

What troubles me the most is that you seem to be a victim of propaganda as well.  You've been reduced to making assertions which cannot be quantified or qualified.  With regards to your statement, the opposite side of the coin would sound something like me saying that all liberals are Godless, Moral-less, pseudo-intellectual cowards who hide behind academic theory and shun common sense, and who are desperately afraid to live life without legislation of every aspect of that life so that they don't ever have to make a real decision.  I have empirical knowledge that disputes this just as I have similar knowledge that disputes your assertion about "all conservatives being watered down facists."

Continue to follow my work and you will see that this image is one of 33 images that I am developing for my thesis, each dealing with a technique of propaganda as Outlined by Magedah E. Shabo in her book "Techniques of Propaganda and Persuasion.  Here is the link.  "  www.amazon.com/Techniques-Prop… 
You should pick it up as It could help you with the making of your own work.

This image is an assertion, the simplest technique which consists of "stating a debatable idea as a fact, with no qualification or explanation."  In the coming weeks I'll post a counter part to this poster that makes use of this image paco850.deviantart.com/art/Und… as the gun toting child killer that seems to motivate so many to accept gun control and registration that would make it easier for the government to take our guns if they ever decided to do so.  From there I'll post examples from of the other types of propaganda from both sides of the political line that go from the most extreme views to the most moderate creating a continuum of propaganda. In the context of that continuum, this piece is much more valuable, but taken out of context, it is an artifact meant to inspire fear and hatred and in itself.  I've outgrown making that kind of work. The whole will be much greater than the sum of the parts.  My goal is not to simply make more propaganda and be a part of the problem, but to make something that exposes propaganda and hopefully opens an eye or two. In the grand scheme of things, it won't make a hill of beans difference on it's own, but maybe it will inspire other artists like yourself to redirect their efforts toward educating the masses on the techniques and mechanisms of this dangerous art form rather than perpetuating it with simple self expression of personal desire obtained through drinking the "Big Machine's Koolaid."

Take care.

JW

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mas2500 In reply to paco850 [2014-08-21 14:21:34 +0000 UTC]

Yeah but the first rule of propaganda is that the person who sees it chooses to accept it. Also I don't do just to be a "Red Propagandist" but rather I enjoy gimp and Leninism, I just combine them. Lastly I was once a die hard conservative, but once I started looking at it I saw connections with Conservativeism and fascism.

Both based on the fear of the foreign and unknown.

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paco850 In reply to mas2500 [2014-08-21 15:18:37 +0000 UTC]

I disagree, I don't think people choose to accept propaganda, I think in most cases they are too ignorant to not accept it.  Once people become hip to it's psychological mechanisms they should become much more cynical and questioning about the information they take in visually and verbally.  But only a small percentage of people ever really learn what it is and how it works, hence horrible abuses of power that are supported by the people in the name of towing a party line, like Hitler's rise to power, the holocaust, and the way that small children are indoctrinated into extremist Islamic sects.  In 2001, we were all relatively happy and feeling pretty peaceful.  Then 9-11 happened and we wanted someone's blood.  Even with that, we were still not interested in invading Iraq in 2003 and so we were told over and over about "Weapons of Mass Destruction" until we were convinced that Invading Iraq was necessary.  All the war movies at the time reflected the anti-Islamic atmosphere of the country.  10 years later, North Korea is acting 10 shades of crazy and three movies from 2012 depicted them as the new Enemy.  Olympus has Fallen, Whitehouse Down and the Red Dawn Remake all showed how evil the North Koreans are.  To be honest, I'm surprised we aren't in a war with North Korea at this point.

I went to bed on 9-10-2001 giving little regard to Islam and now I am painfully aware of the dramatic difference that I felt the next night on 9-11-2001 after my new enemy had been quickly identified by the media.  As a child I had a similar experience when I watched Red Dawn. I didn't make a choice to fear Russians of Communism. I wasn't smart enough at 7 years old to think logically about it.  Unfortunately, I think a very large portion of the population has a similar child like trust in the media and the information that we are being  given about the world.  Populations must be controlled or we'd be in a state of constant revolution like we see in other parts of the world.  We are not immune to such violence over here, but we are kept content with what we have without fear of what we stand to lose.  We are kept entertained and have a constant diet of cheap foods made from High Fructose Corn Syrup to keep us wallowing in Apathy.  When dissidents like the militia show up and start making noise, they are discredited as crazy people by the media. 

I think extreme Conservatism and extreme Liberalism can both be corrupted to function as Fascism.  Be carful not to tow that party line too hard or you are in danger of being just as blind as the rest of the people who do the same if you aren't already.  That makes you a part of the problem rather than part of the solution.

Finally, regarding your assertion that all Conservatives are just watered down fascists, I'll pose a question to you.   Is the Bill of Rights a fascistic document, because as a conservative, I believe in preserving it above everything else and basing my government on the constitution that accompanies it. Extremist Liberals supposedly want freedom, but they appear to be willing to allow this document to be changed and challenged, and ask for more laws.  More laws doesn't mean more freedom.  It means less.  On the flip side of that, the most extreme conservatives are bombing abortion clinics and getting into fights with homosexuals at gay rights parades.  That isn't the whole population of conservatives, just a small faction.  But that faction is publicized more than any other on national media.  There is an irrational fear of black men in this country among white people.  We all know good, decent, law abiding black men that we work with, have lunch with etc.  They exist, but we never really see them on television or in the news and so the image of the dangerous black man is perpetuated more than the responsible one.  That is propaganda aimed at dividing the focus of the population in yet another way, and it is furthering someone's agenda.

All that being said, read my latest journal that puts the image that inspired you to comment into a context greater than itself and  outlines my graduate thesis and lets continue to talk if you are interested.

best
JW

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