Misinformation. Disinformation. They each start with a prefix. The prefix “mis” means “incorrectly.” There is no blame or accountability against the perpetrator. The prefix “dis” means “not” or “opposite of.” This is a fairly gentle, subtle, and obtuse five-syllable way to refer to a lie. There are some shadows cast upon the perpetrator for intentionally not giving accurate information, but words matter, and not calling a lie, a lie, seems just like the perpetuation of more lies.
To be fair, everyone lies. Psychologists, scientists, sociologists alike all agree on this much. And there are all kinds of motivations for lies. One of the kinder reasons is to avoid hurting someone’s feelings. We have come to expect lies in our lives, whether by commission or omission, especially in the areas of advertising, social media, and politics.
But times change, and we are now facing an infodemic of epic proportions. No new taxes. I will close the border. We debate whether or not those are lies by some describing them as simply political promises that did not come to fruition. Maybe. But that was yesterday.
Now we have politicians telling lies, with full awareness and intention, that are resulting in hurting the lives of citizens in the here and now during the response and recovery to Hurricanes Helene and Milton. These lies have caused survivors to not seek and gain financial support. These lies have caused first responders and emergency managers to be attacked on social media and to be threatened physically. Even meteorologists, doing their job, have received death threats.
Donald Trump, JD Vance, and Elon Musk are all on record, documented, fact-checked, and are even being corrected by members of their own party, because the behavior, the conscious choices to lie, are just that heinous.
It’s time to look at the bigger picture. This is more than politics, more than misinformation, more than disinformation, more than lies, and even more than harmful lies. We are seeing an onslaught of propaganda on a scope and scale we have not seen since Nazi Germany.
I know that is both provocative and triggering. Words matter. Propaganda is defined as “information, especially of a biased or misleading nature, used to promote or publicize a particular political cause or point of view; the spreading of ideas, information, or rumor for the purpose of helping or injuring an institution, a cause, or a person; ideas, facts, or allegations spread deliberately to further one’s cause or to damage an opposing cause.”
Propaganda is a pejorative term. We need to bring this word, this concept, this abhorrent behavior, back into our vernacular and our culture in order to more openly and honestly expose it for what it is.
Historical examples go back as far as the Behistun Inscription c. 515 BCE. There was propaganda during the Holy Roman Empire and the French Revolution. None of us were alive then. But some of our society was alive, and first-person accounts have been passed on to future generations, about Adolf Hitler’s Reich Ministry of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda. The role of the ministry was to centralize Nazi control of all aspects of German cultural, mass media and intellectual life for the country.
Adolf Hitler, the leader of the Nazi Party, argued that the Germans were superior to all other races. Hitler became obsessed with ‘racial purity’ and used the word ‘Aryan’ to describe his idea of a ‘pure German race’ or Herrenvolk. The ‘Aryan race’ had a duty to control the world. The Nazis believed that the Aryans had the most “pure blood” of all the people on earth. The ideal Aryan had pale skin, blond hair and blue eyes. Hitler, himself, was not a poster boy for the ideal image. But propaganda fueled his power.
Fast forward to the Trump Presidency. In those four years, The Washington Post cited 30,573 false or misleading claims. 30,573. Trump’s primary strategist, Steve Bannon publicly acknowledged, “The real opposition is the media. And the way to deal with them is to flood the zone with shit.” They were not even trying to hide it. Propaganda.
Now, here we are in 2024, in the United States. They are using their propaganda by willingly hurting survivors as nothing more than pawns in their strategy.
And they may get away with it. In the 1987 movie, “The Untouchables,” Sean Connery’s character declares, “”They pull a knife, you pull a gun. He sends one of yours to the hospital, you send one of his to the morgue.” Trump, Vance and Musk are attacking intellects with knives and putting beliefs in hospitals.
And how are we responding? We call out misinformation and disinformation in polite whispers and demur objections.
I will get attacked for writing this piece, but I will stand tall in the face of slings and arrows. They have attacked survivors, fellow humans, in their darkest hour and greatest time of need. This is not misinformation or disinformation.
This is brutal, unconscionable, life-threatening propaganda.
Eventually, the world stood up to Nazi Germany. It is time to stand up again.
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Stoneking Strategic Communications (SSC) 