--- Chuck Grimes <cgrimes at rawbw.com> wrote:
>
> I think one direction toward an explanation for the
> complete
> transparency of most propaganda is that the
> manufacturers somehow
> believe it themselves. Hitler believed he was loved
> by the people
> because his mass rallies proved it to him. His title
> proved it. And I
> am guessing, his own sentimentalism towards cute
> children and flowers
> must have proved it. More, guessing. The proud
> happiness of the
> peasant women in their best traditional outfits come
> to show off their
> children was probably geniune. Concieved on this
> level, the film I saw
> was just a news reel report, i.e. the truth! It only
> looked staged in
> the sense that any visit by officialdom almost
> anywhere was and is
> arranged in advance.
>
Your posts are always excellent and insightful, Chuck.
I'm sure Hitler the person* probably did think that all of the abovementioned stuff was true. In addition to his, ahem, unusual personality structure, people in his position have devised a way to make sure that everything that happens to them confirms their beliefs. For one thing, no one around you is ever going to call the fundamentals into question. For another, any failings in the belief system or attributed not to the system but to "dark forces" from outside. Kind of like Bush I would guess.
*I have problems imagining Hitler as a human being. I cannot picture the guy suffering from a headache, taking a dump, or jerking off. (Ouch, I think I need some brain soap to wash out that last image.
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