Propaganda

Culture is God

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Culture is God

For over 3000 years art has been an effective instrument utilized to instigate and propagate propaganda. To communicate wealth, kings would have their thrones custom made in gold. They would have statues of themselves erected to signify dominance and unadulterated power. Art was grand and bold. Art was truthful. Art was forever. Propaganda means to tell one side of the story great. For that to be achieved, we need theatricality and a truckload of charisma. We need the narcissistic and egotistical character to impose himself on the world and lay claim to being a god. We need symbols with meanings, paintings of portraits and parades on the streets with people exhibiting their skills in an art form known as dance to communicate a feeling of happiness or to spread fear and flex muscles in the form of a military parade. Art is emotive. It makes us feel, it engages our feelings and regulates our emotions. Art is powerful. Art is dramatic, it has flair. The best utilization of art as propaganda can be found in history. Particularly in the 1930’s in Germany. Adolf Hitler’s Nazi party were at the helm of Germany. The aim was to restore Germany’s status in the world as a powerhouse. It had been crippled in World War one, and Hitler had ambitions of restoring it. To do this, everyone in Germany had to pledge allegiance to Hitler. Everyone had to be loyal to Hitler. Everyone had to give their lives to Hitler or simply run the risk of being killed. Hitler had a minister of propaganda who would propagate the word in the form movies and music. Children in primary school all the way to tertiary institutions started off the day singing a mandatory anthem about Hitler’s greatness and how he is Germany’s savior. Hitler proclaimed his book “Mein Kampf” as the bible of Germany and passed a law that every household in Germany should possess it and study it with great rigor and enthusiasm. The Nazi symbol (Swastika) bombarded every street and corner of Germany – it was all that people saw, all that they knew. With the aid of art, Adolf Hitler transformed himself into a literal God. He had real power, he was respected and he was feared. His military parades were so majestic and grandiose with the image of Swastikas in a form of flags and big posters everywhere; with the crowd cheering and saluting with their right hands in the air. Hitler was propaganda embodied and being an artist himself, he made it an art form.

Adolf Hitler is not the only person to use art as propaganda. Religion institutions like the Catholic Church are one of the best to ever do it. The statues they have erected are so beautiful. The architecture of their churches – it’s so sublime, so extraterrestrial and yet calming, conservative and reassuring. The inside of the church is spectacular – they have mini fountains, statues of personnel in the bible and the most beautiful paintings. Leonardo Da Vinci was one of the artists who contributed in the churches art. He painted one of the most remarkable and beautiful paintings ever, notably the last supper – it was realistic, alive, animated, spirited and energetic. The picture is exactly what God and bible were conveying. Leonardo Da Vinci did it, he hit the nail right on top of the head. The church has this impressive aura, from their paintings, the churches architecture, their statues, their props, the congregation – they are magnificent! In 2019, we still see propaganda propagated in widespread areas. In Gauteng, Sandton resides a bronze statue of first democratically elected president Nelson Mandela. It is huge and commemorative. Like the Grand Canyon, tourists from all parts of life frequent it to take pictures and busk in its glory and magnificence. There is also a majestic bridge located in Newtown, Johannesburg that is named after the great man. It is a beautiful piece of architecture that draws tourists in. It is grand and sublime. At night, it lights up in a way that almost takes your breath away – it is so beautiful. Nelson Mandela was a great man, however mortality meant that he was limited. Art and culture has elevated his name in the realm of immortality and gods.

Religion was created to help us with fundamental issues of existence namely ethics, morality and values. Like Philosophy it taught how to live – but in a reserved and calculated manner. It helped with nihilistic thoughts and depression. It gave us a reason to live. By negating the material world in favor of a Heaven or Utopia, it unloaded the burden on our shoulders and made us strive for an ideal. It was beautiful, subtle and effective. The world had an order. People’s behaviors could be predicted. There was harmony in communities. Conduct was born, to be different meant a transgression to society, so that was avoided by all means. Everyone strived to be a “good” person. Religion created that culture in communities, in all parts of the world. It created the culture of empathy and sympathy – the essence of being a good person, it created a culture of order and it created a culture of submissiveness. As a crowd management system, it had its frailties that were exposed in the dawn of the industrial revolution. People in their numbers now lived in the city. The city was confined and restricted with no trees or an ecosystem that supported life. Life in the city was stressful, demanding and expedient. Religion had protected people from the notion and truth that life was suffering and now everything was unfolding – people’s lives were falling apart. Religion did not have the tools or answers to help people deal with their demanding lives. Heaven as a consolation prize for the suffering evident and prevailing was not enough. This resulted in people having nihilistic thoughts. 21st Century philosopher Nietzsche professed that “God was dead!” on his amazing work “Thus Spoke Zarathustra”. It was a fair assessment of reality and the future.

Now in 2019, on the 4th industrial revolution with the emergence of artificially created life, we see the evidence of god’s death. More and more people now live in cities as opposed to small intimate villages in a community where everyone knows one another. Life is on the fast lane and church isn’t even in the car. It is trailing behind, losing a drag race by miles. Life is even more demanding, life is more stressful and life is more expedient. Thinking is a luxury! Loneliness and depression are the epidemics of the world. Suicide rates are skyrocketing. Crime at an all-time high and Capitalism – the new culture of the world destroying religion making sure that we feed on one another like cannibalistic life forms. The capitalistic system is god. The capitalistic system is culture. It has devoured religions ethics, morality and values leaving the population confused about their self-identity, about a self-campus on where to go. We are about in the wild chasing novelty after novelty. Lost. Empty. The song “No Church in the Wild” by Jay –Z & Kanye West explores our reality in great detail. It is about how everything is permitted in a world where god is dead. The visuals for this song is the most powerful thing you will ever see. Both Jay –Z & Kanye West are exempted from the video, instead we see a movie where there is a lot of chaos, fighting and death. It is the artist’s job to reflect the world to the people, a job Jay –Z and Kanye West did remarkably well with high distinction. It is a piece of art that will immortalize them. It is brilliant.

Kanye West is one of the few artists in the world to understand the role of art, to understand the power that it has. He is an intelligent man who aligns himself with the outlandish and provocative. He does this because he understands the order of the world. He does this because he knows culture, rules. To shift culture, you have to be unconventional, mysterious, unpredictable and a loose screw. Being unpredictable makes you powerful. This is a skill that Kanye West has mastered all his life. In 2007, Kim Kardashian released a sex-tape on the internet with then boyfriend “Ray J”. It was a strategic ploy on her side to attain power. It was a bold move, it was gritty, gutsy and it was scandalous! She became an instant star. She had a great body and her boyfriend was a celebrity. She was all the internet talked about. Fresh from the release of his mega successful album Graduation in 2007, Kanye West started courting Kim Kardashian. With the trajectory of his career on the ascendency he saw an opportunity. Kim Kardashian’s public persona was too good for him to pass up on, it was scandalous, promiscuous, bold, gutsy, sexy, forbidden and phallic. Kim Kardashian was extremely powerful and he (Kanye) knew this. Ultimately, he married Kim and Kim Kardashian married a successful, rapper and entrepreneur who graced the cover of “Times” magazine thus legitimizing her brand and image. The marriage was a perfect fit. As a couple, they had influence, they had power and they would be the talk of popular culture. 2013 saw the release of his sixth album “Yeezus”. Once again, he had aligned himself with a powerful figure “Jesus Christ”. It was typical Kanye who freed himself from all the barriers and boxes that contained everyone else. From that move, naturally he was all that people could talk about. With the aid of art, he became mythical. It was propaganda, by aligning himself with “Jesus Christ”, a cult-like following emerged and started creating pictures of him as Jesus. It was a frenzy. It made him powerful. Soon enough, everyone was imitating him – now the world had artists like “Reazus” and “Teezus”. Kanye West was idolized and worshipped.

The internet has bestowed on to people the power to be gods. Art is something we could use to improve that god-like status. The danger of the internet is that it has also created illusions. Being headstrong is a requirement. The “death of god” has to have a powerful effect on us. We have to do things for ourselves and have the courage to live life in its totality. We have to be brave and venture out in the world with a strong belief in ourselves and our abilities. God cannot do anything for us because everything was fabricated by culture – and culture is made up of people like me and you. Everything in the world is made up of culture and influence. Love is cultural invention – initially it was an escape from our loneliness and boredom. The internet has gifted us the opportunity to be better, to be influential, and to be gods.

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Reflections

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Reflections

He said I still don’t know what I want to do with my life and it scares me. The expectations of everyone are putting me in the deep end and I don’t know how to swim. And so I am drowning, overwhelmed by everyone’s ideas of my life. I am reminded of the illusion of time and how I am not getting any younger. My peers are already settled but what does that mean? Because all I see is slow death that creeps on you like tobacco. The life of my peers is the cancer that grows and spreads exponentially. They have stopped living and are on a gradual decline to death. My peers are living quiet lives of desperation. Characterized by doing the same things everyday. Life has become a chore and growth is something that has eluded them. Nihilism creeps in on a daily and they often ask themselves, is this really worth it? Why don’t I just end it now? Isn’t it mercy? This can’t be life, there’s gotta be more!

I am tired of doing the same things everyday. My life is repetitive and I feel I am trapped in a loop. The sex is not all that great and I think my wife is having second thoughts. I am trapped in debts and the mortgage payments aren’t helping. I am slave, prostituting myself for the money and I am not enjoying it anymore. Everything is an obligation and lately I can’t bare to look at myself in the mirror. I don’t know who I am. I lost all my passions. My possessions have become my owners and I live in complete misery. I don’t know what happiness is anymore. Everyone in my life is fake and I have lost real connections. Everyone seeks to use me as a resource. I suffer from depression and most nights I can’t sleep. My life has become a Pavlovian experiment and the trauma is making me suggestible to all the injustices of life. Forced to love my servitude. My life is a propaganda campaign orchestrated by Nazis. The only thing that’s good in my life are my children. They are the glue that holds everything together, they bring relevance to my marriage. But I am happy, at least in society’s books that are massed produced for everyone. I am successful.

How can I look forward to that mode of existence, he reflected.

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Keeping up with the Kardashians

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Keeping Up with the Kardashians

Earlier in 2019, Kylie Jenner was certified the youngest self-made billionaire in the world by Forbes eclipsing Mark Zuckerberg who managed the feat at 24. Kylie Jenner managed this incredible feat aged just 21. She unbelievably owns a third of the lipstick market in the United States. Also she owns a hundred percent stake in her company ensuring that all the profits go directly to her. The internet and social media has been buzzing all year questioning the status of “self-made”, it’s a bold declaration, one many feel she doesn’t deserve considering her last name. She had been affluent and lived a life of luxury all her life. She had the resources and the infrastructure at her disposal. There was no process to her riches – it was like pushing a button. Fair arguments, however she had initiative, she had skill, she had business acumen, she had wit, and she had intelligence to carry out her vision. After all, owning a third of the market requires some sort of consistency and poise. Sure maybe she was lucky but should we strip the title of “self-made billionaire” because of that fact? Never. Reason being all successful people are lucky. Shaun Carter aka Jay –Z is lucky to be alive considering the life of crime he led as a young man. He was born in Macy in the projects of New York. To survive he sold drugs and often got in heated feuds with members of dangerous gangs. He is lucky to be alive. He was lucky he found a skill he could harness from a very young age. He was lucky he got a mentor who taught him about the music business. He was lucky he met Damian Dash and he was lucky “Reasonable Doubt” did as well as it did. Luck comes after a sequence of hard work, it is contagious and can be channeled. This is exhibited on the Kylie Jenner story. Her family, her sisters worked hard just so she (Kylie) can be “lucky”. Kylie Jenner is a self-made billionaire because the business she created comes from her spirit, her psychology, her insecurities – those are the elements that inspired her business model. The fact that she had the resources doesn’t disqualify her.

What are the origins of her luck? Two words. Kim Kardashian. She possess amazing power. Sure her parents had wealth but Kim gave the family as a unit influence. Influence is subtle. Influence sways heads. Influence creates movements and drives change. Influence is underlying. Influence is transformative. Influence is hidden and repressed. Influence is resourceful. Influence is true power. Kim Kardashian is a seductive animal that emits pheromones into the atmosphere for all to take the bait and follow. Ever since her entrance into public life she has had this aura that is irresistible for all sexes of life. Her public persona is the stuff of legends. She is like the new age Marilyn Monroe in the sense that she knows she belongs to the world – to the public. She has created an incredible brand. A brand that is synonymous with beauty, fashion, trends, outlandish, repressed, forbidden and popular culture. The brand she has created is truly amazing. Kim Kardashian has pushed the limits of popular culture so many times. From successfully monetizing an amateur sex-tape over the internet to popularizing apparel that left little to the mind to fantasize about in the fashion world. As a brand, the Kim Kardashian image signified ultimate freedom from customs and systems – her image incited promiscuous intentions, naughty actions, repressed desires, dangerous consequences, erotic fantasies and forbidden transgressions. The Kim Kardashian brand provided a release, a platform to showcase what is underlying and often repressed by society – a platform to be unapologetically you. It is a powerful brand because it enables people to project on to you their darkest and most repressed desires. It is a brand that elevates one to the status of a god. Who could argue Kim’s claim to being a goddess? After all, multiple time she had been all that people talked about on the internet and popular culture. Multiple times she had been what young girls aspired to become. Multiple times she had left men on their knees.

As a result of Kim’s popularity, a decision was made to create a “reality show”. The show would follow Kim and her family as they navigated the world. Central to the show’s theme was beauty. The Kardashians used the show as a vehicle to create a need. We would see the sisters resorting to plastic surgery to make themselves desirable in the eyes of the world. We would see the excessive purchases of designer clothes. The show was predicated on social status and the validation of society. It would leave the viewers empty and with new found insecurities about how they looked and the clothes they wore. It was effective and critical in forming this plastic life. The show was so detached from reality, an element that made it popular and alluring. Everything about the show was bigger than life and so it provided an avenue to escape from the tribulations of life. The show exploited a very critical area in human psychology – the need to be liked and accepted. Status symbols and extravagant purchases represented a remedy and a means to deal with the gaps and holes inside ones heart. In truth one was better off not watching the show than watching it because it was warfare to the mind. The show made minds passive and indoctrinated them into an abyss of misery. However it was a success and central to the Kardashians wealth. Many more spin-off shows were created and the beauty market boomed with the Kardashians at the forefront of everything.

It was Kim Kardashian who started everything for her family. She created a really powerful brand. She exemplified the brand, she lived the brand, she believed in the brand. Whether her public persona is different from her usual persona – that is a different story for another day. Brands are essential in the accumulation of wealth. Kim’s brand is believable. She is a siren. An attractive girl who has all the attributes and features to land any man he wants. Her body and voice solidifies that claim. Her detached demeanor and rich, spoiled girl behavior is what we expect to see and it is what she projects – a larger than life personality that is alluring and devastatingly seductive. Her image evokes all kinds of emotions. She is desired. It is as if she is the brand she created. If youth was forever, Kim Kardashian would be the most powerful woman in the world. However, life is disappointing and looks fade. Still, she is central to Kylie’s success. Kim was bold, daring and provocative. She had a creative energy and entrepreneurial drive that was like no other. She was different. In her prime, she became all that she could be. She was a success. She laid the foundations for her sisters. She gave the Kardashian family fame – something that fast tracks success in any domain. Fame is infrastructure. Fame is numbers. Fame is a chance. Fame is support. Fame is money. Fame is influence. Fame is power. Her spirit is immense and is felt throughout the universe. That frequency emits and ripples a chain of luck molecules – her sisters were the recipients of these molecules and it has enabled them to do amazing things. We are the products of our ancestors and immediate family. Kim and her family created a world that was so big and realistic that Kylie was immersed it in, Kylie was a product of that world and she owned it and took the vision further. Now, her responsibility is to push boundaries and challenge customs and conventions.

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I could be Hitler II

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I could be Hitler II

I could be Hitler. I just can’t help but to connect with him. I think Reading “Mein Kampf” has turned me into a Nazi, I partly agree with his observations and I like some of his ideas. He was idealistic and big picture oriented. The Halocaust was horrible and nothing like that should ever happen again but the Jews do control all the banks, major media companies and just about everything else. Yes, he is biased and hateful but his comments were not slanderous, instead they reflected reality – still do. Does that justify the Halocaust? No, but I understand. Granted if I were born in that era, I wouldn’t have a chance because I would be a “Negro” or “Kafir” to use his term and I would be cast in the same box as the Jew if not lower but what if I were a pure Aryan German? What if I were favored by Hitler and natural selection? What if I were chosen by the Fatherland? What if I were worthy? I imagine it would validate my whole existence.

Chances are I would have been a Nazi, I would have done it for Hitler, he had a magnetic personality and he was charismatic. He was supremely intelligent, passionate, creative and he had a lot of enthusiasm. The story of the growth of the party is amazing, how meticulous he was with the planning, the red color of the posters, the Swastika, the flags, the showmanship, holding meetings at night to lower resistance, deliberate flooding of the streets with blood red posters, the propaganda campaigns and getting the best speakers for the program. He started speaking to a crowd of less than 20 people and through relentless campaigning and hard work moved to venues that could accommodate thousands of people. It wasn’t like the party had ample capital, the party had no financial backing whatsoever, all the money for the posters came from the ticket sales they charged for the entrance. Hitlers magnetic personality attracted people to his ideas, he had a magnificent talent in public speaking and was the head of propaganda for his party. He saw things in colors, symbols, words, visuals and sound. He was sensitive and intuitive. He possessed great taste in all things culture. He was a great leader. I can’t help but to be drawn to Hitler, even before I read the book I was intrigued by him because I’ve always appreciated those creative qualities. I see myself in his ideas and so I can’t rule out genocide. So maybe I am a bad person. I also have evil intentions. I also want world domination and my driving motivation is to be the best. Through that motivation lines might be blurred and I might end up serving my ego leading to narcissistic tendencies. I might be insecure and want to assert my will on a unsuspecting host. I might instigate violence to further my course. I might engage in malevolent acts to prove a point. I don’t think I am better than Hitler, I could be Hitler – everything he possessed, I possess.

So maybe reading “Mein Kampf” is not such a good idea, it might turn you into a Nazi and you don’t want that! Nazis are ostracized by society. Still, I could be Hitler.

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I could be Hitler

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I could be Hitler.

Reading Mein Kampf and thinking “Adolf Hitler was not such a bad guy”, because now I hear his voice and his narrative. His interesting. Fine he is petty, small, hateful and has a distain for the Jews. I admit the hate propagated against the Jew is extraordinary. Still I understand. I am not making an excuse for what the Nazis did, the Halocaust was horrible! It is by far the greatest crime to humanity. But I could be Adolf Hitler, I am not better than Adolf Hitler. What if I was born into that time and surrounded by that culture. What if War was a reality and death around the corner? What if I served for my country and watched us sacumb on the final hurdle? What if we were humiliated by the allies and our comrades died for nothing? What if death and freedom weren’t intellectual concepts? I connect with Hitlers speech and tone throughout the first volume, he has a enthusiasm that is boundless and a attitude that is energetic. He is hopeful throughout the struggles, poverty, hunger, troubles, pains and uncertainty of the future, it is like he is chasing destiny. He is driven, he is passionate. He doesn’t have a victim-mentality. He is the change he wants to see. In his eyes, he serves something that is bigger than him – God. This makes him strong and durable, it makes him unstoppable! In the first War he gets blinded by tear gas and asks God to restore his eyesight so he can continue serving his will. When his eyesight is restored, he takes that as a sign, maybe he is the one. Let’s not forget that he served on the first guard, witnessing his fellow comrades die was the norm, he enlisted with a lot of men who never lived to tell their story. He escaped bullets and death daily fighting for his love – the Fatherland, you cannot deny his love for Germany.

I could be Hitler, he was open-minded, artistic and creative. The Swastika was his idea, the graphics, the color, what it mean’t and what it stood for. He loved art and he was a painter. Architecture was his passion and he had a talent in public speaking. Everything about that connects to me, I feel it, I understand, I am all of that! I could be Hitler, I want power, I want to be worshipped, I want control, I want to dominate people’s will, it would validate my existence and make me feel good. I know I am narcissistic, name one person who isn’t. The content he has brought in the world by being Adolf Hitler is amazing, his life was meaningful. History is fed with Hitler stories and all the lessons, history will forever remember Adolf Hitler. Adolf Hitler was all of humanity’s shadow manifested on a grand stage with high stakes. He was right, he was the chosen one and God’s hand was active. Even the malevolence, death and destruction was a part of the grand plan for humanity like Noah with his ark. Hitler is Jesus with flawed morality and deadly biases. Still, I could be Hitler, I have a lot of ideas on how we can create the perfect German whose athletic and has blue eyes. I have ideas on how we can create the perfect propaganda campaign and my Gas Chambers would fit in more Jews. I too could easily put to sleep permanently the disabled – they serve no utility to Germany. Germany loves Hitler, they are proud of him to this day, he is their icon like Nelson Mandela, don’t let anybody tell you otherwise. I could be Hitler, I am not pure. I am dangerous, unpredictable and have what it takes to kill in cold blood. I can distance myself from situations and so genocide wouldn’t give me sleepless nights. I am a human being and I am heavily flawed, I am grandiose, egotistical, repressed, I don’t trust easily, I get jealous, I get insecure, I feel hate and anger – who knows what might happen?

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Change peoples mind

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Change people’s minds

Changing people’s minds is difficult. This is because people don’t like being told what to do. We also have biases that make us believe that we are right and everybody is wrong. There’s also the fact that we are all narcissists, hence the success of social media. We tend to believe that the world revolves around us and we internalize information that corresponds with this viewpoint. We believe we are God’s and can predict and forecast the future when that’s false, no one really knows anything, no one has the answers and no one can forecast the future.

Reverse psychology is one way to do it. Another way is hypnosis, programming and unfair, unjustified passive aggressive comments that make you go “What?”, these work because they go into your subconscious mind. Another way to change people’s minds is propaganda. We witnessed an example of this with Germany and the Nazis. Children were brainwashed from the infancy. Everywhere in Germany was this one viewpoint that was spread across different platforms and mediums like movies, posters, radios, music, billboards etc. Propaganda works because repetition is the father of learning.

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Propaganda

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Propaganda

Propaganda tends to have a negative connotation and it’s warranted, we saw what happened in the 20th century with Nazi Germany. What transpired was just pure evil, but it’s not just with Nazi Germany. Propaganda is everywhere. We see this with the depiction of Africa by the West. And how is Jesus Christ white again?

Propaganda is everywhere, we see it on our money with Nelson Mandela, he is always there, looking at you, smiling. Sandton City has a place called “Nelson Mandela Square” and it is a place designated for Mandela. It has art, it has statues, it has stores that sell Mandela gold coins, it has stores that sell the type of clothes he wore, it is Mandela heaven. Because Sandton is my home, I see Nelson Mandela every day. I believe his propaganda, I believe that he was a great man. I am surrounded by proof. Yes, I concede Nelson Mandela was a great man, easily one of the greatest men who ever lived. The propaganda makes him better than the “Greatest”. He has malls named after him, streets, hospitals, bridges and just about anything you can think of. The “Mandela” brand is a great brand and it is because of this propaganda.

Essentially what propaganda is, is Marketing and PR. It is showing only one side of the story in the best possible light repeatedly. It is biased and one sided. We see this with the advertising industry. Everyone is always smiling on Billboards and on ads and that KFC burger isn’t that great in real life. Propaganda is flattery and deception, it is what we humans do best. Social media has allowed us to propagate propaganda for our personal brands. We can take pictures and filter them to be perfect and then share with the whole world. We have more power than ever!

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