Can satire not also be used as Propoganda?
5 days from now. There will be elections in my home country. The Netherlands.
Recently a video went viral on facebook about this man. Who many people into world politics will probaly recognize.
To clearify. I would like to mention that I do not endorse this politician or atleast most things he has to say.
Tough I do understand where he is coming from and why he is brings up some controversial problems wich alot of politians don't even dare admit that they exist.
I normaly keep these opinions for myself. But I want to make sure people know I am trying to be as unbiased as possible.
This man is pretty much the Donald Trump of the Netherlands. He is very anti immigration from Islamic countries for several reasons. And he is very anti european union. Well that are the two things he is most known for.
The video it is about is this one.
Ofcourse this is satire. And funny. Because alot of the sarcasm and Irony feels spot on.
Still atleast to me. I ended up labeling this as propoganda in a comment on facebook.
Got both positive and negative responses from that.
With one person responding with the comment.
This is satire not propoganda grow a sense of humor blablabla.
So I'm thinking. Yeah this is satire. Because the video is also clearly following a narrative that is pushing the viewer to jump to a conclusion about geert wilders. And when you don't do your research then it would be very easy to reach that conclusion.
So in my eyes I'd label that as propoganda aswell. Even if it is satire.
Another example of satire used as a tool for propoganda in my view would be this one.
Where they are making fun of the nazi's.
I did some googling and tried to do some research. I have read up alot about propoganda in general the last few years.
So I'd think I would also find a site talking about relationship between propoganda and satire. But there wasn't much to find.
Now I really want to know other people's opinions about this.
I considered that my view on what propoganda is might be a bit wrong.
So I would like to know other peoples views on the issue.
Do you think satire is many times also used as propoganda?
Or do you think that satire and propoganda are two completely different things and can't be combined?
Wikipedia describes propaganda as "information, especially of a biased or misleading nature, used to promote a political cause or point of view". I think this sounds very inclusive. It looks like the nature of propaganda leaves room for every form of expression. So propaganda can be sad like the picture of dead children or it can be funny like a meme and it can also be satire.
I have an unrelated question that is related to Geert Wilders: I agree with him on leaving the EU but I disagree with him on immigration. For me there are political issues that are more important than those two but when I look for English texts about him I can only find his position on immigration. Can you point me somewhere where I can find his position on foreign policy, taxation and welfare?
I think so too. I have mixed feelings about him aswell. I think the EU needs to be reformed because people are losing their power and sovereignity. Leaving the EU suddenly would be like suicide. Because the Netherlands is far more dependend on the EU than Great Brittain is. Tough I know the reason why he wants to leave and they are good reasons. The EU defenitly has to change.
When it comes to immigration. From one perspective I understand why people disagree with him. On the other hand his message has some truth to it, else nobody would vote on him and he would not have a leg to stand on. Immigration and mostly intergration has failed here. Migrants have segregated themselves from the native population and many migrant company's even refuse to do business with native population.
And then its the criminality amongst these people that is rising against the natives "Rapidly". These things are all true and can all be proven. So I think the way we deal with immigrants definitly needs to change. Not sure if what Wilders is proposing is the right way. But I think its extremely important that we do acknowledge that the problem exists wich a lot of politicians refuse to do.
I think it is impossible to reform the EU. But I also think that it would be to soon for the Netherlands to leave now because every country that leaves the EU would have to negotiate trade treaties and stuff like that from the start. This becomes a different thing when the UK is gone in two or three years. Small countries can learn from the UK how to leave. :)
Yeah. I heared someone say it before. I'm not sure why it would be impossible to reform the EU.
Or let it take a few steps back. But I will do some research on that. Maybe instead of reforming the EU it should be replaced then.