This report was originally published by Selco at The Organic Prepper
Editor’s note: A point I’ve been harping on a lot lately is how we in the United States have been divided by politics and the media lately. Many have become callous and lost their humanity. People have begged for laws and rulings against others but don’t like those laws and rulings when it later applies to them. It will ring familiar when you read this article as Selco shares how the media manipulated the population of the Balkans fanning the flames of hatred and fear. To paraphrase, if we don’t learn from history, we’ll repeat the mistakes, again and again. Don’t let yourself be manipulated by half-truths and hate-mongering propaganda. ~ Daisy
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Media is a very powerful and useful tool and we as preppers lean on it in making our opinions and decisions.
Many survival strategies, bug-out routes, survival storages and whatnot are built on what we figured out based on information that media gave us.
I belong to a generation that once believed, “if it was not on TV it did not happen.” Today there are many more choices, but in essence, it comes down to the fact that if it is nicely packaged and repeated for enough number of times, most of the folks are gonna believe it.
Because of the ways of modern life, we tend to want information very fast and accurate, and the accent is on fast. We want “flashy” and useful, and the accent is on flashy.
There are many more choices, sources, and opinions for how we get information and from what media – but still, not too many things have changed. We are still very easy to manipulate with through the media.
We begin to hoard information wanting to know more, but what we get is a lot of junk, with occasional pieces of gold. Also, often information is planted there in order to “move public opinion” in the direction that someone powerful wants. It is pure propaganda.
How the media worked right before SHTF
As I said, in my time (weeks/months prior SHTF) the situation was a bit different, because of the number of media outlets available, but a lot of things can be pointed out that look similar to what we see today.
The ways how people get manipulated through the media/information probably never changed for ages, it simply got more sophisticated, and we people get more “plugged in” or simply more dependent on it.
Now when I look back, it is very easy to see that we were fooled by most of the media and pushed in actions that were not smart, but in that time it was invisible to us. The media manipulated people, bombarding us with fear and hate.
It is hard now, to sum up how all that looks, how media did the job, but some points can be described.
They heated up the situation.
We were bombarded carefully with loads of information about changes that were coming to us.
It was not only about the political system. It was also about the importance of our opinions. After some time of this, folks simply started to believe that our opinion could make a change, or that our opinion was important.
After that, we were “fed” through the media that there were great differences between us, and that the differences were actually so big that they might be a problem for our future life in this region.
In reality, you can point out huge differences between any groups of people, or political options anywhere in the world and still, that does not mean it needs to end up in blood. But we were led to believe that blood was the only option for solving differences.
They increased the fear.
The next stage – and it was presented in a way that was so intimidatingly logical – was fear.
Fear of others, fear of differences, fear of those who wanted different things from us.
Media can put great amounts of fear in you, by careful and very subtle hints. Sometimes, you do not even realize you are in the middle of that process (of intimidation) since one day you woke up and felt afraid
Fear is a very powerful motivator, and under the influence of fear, you can be compelled to do a lot of things.
We all know that fear can also save your life, so it is not always a bad thing. But I am talking about the fear that the system may install in you over a period of time, in order to manipulate you.
Every system in the world plays with that, more or less.
It can come in many forms. In my case, it was about fear of those who were different than me. In your case, it could be the fear of losing some rights, or similar.
They increased the hate.
Hate often comes with fear. And it comes again often as a solution to fear.
Just before S hit the fan in my case, the buildup of hate was so dense that you could feel it in the air.
And once real hate is there (mixed with fear) you can be manipulated in such wild things that you could not have believed possible.
Hate also can be good motivation, but only in very small doses, because it “spends” you very fast. What is really more important here is the fact that general hatred clouds your judgment.
Having clouded judgment is totally against any mindset of being a prepper.
Whenever you find yourself in a situation when you feel that you generally hate groups of people, options, or states, stop for a moment and go through serious mental check: Are you being manipulated by someone and what are the reasons for that?
I witnessed many times innocent people being killed because a public opinion was formed that “it is OK”, and it was scary how fast that opinion was formed.
As the violence and fear progressed, it was easier to be even more manipulated by the media.
You have to use common sense.
I am not saying that you should trust no one and sit at home with tin foil hat, but be careful what you trust when it comes to media.
Use common sense and try to build your own network. Find groups of people who share your view of life.
Big media players have their own agenda usually, and that is the reason why they are big. They know their job very good.
Part of the solution is fact that today, we have huge choices when it comes to information. The internet offers every man the opportunity to look at and offer opinions. Of course, that also can be part of the problem because often there is too much information.
Look for a person, not a system.
I think I was something like 11 years old when we had school event in the name of one of the big battles of WWII.
There were flags, an orchestra, speeches from local communists, and we kids with small flags.
The speeches were about the noble fight, heroic acts, love to the motherland, patriotism…
Together with politicians, on the stage was standing an old guy, a survivor of the battle, a man who held highest military decoration of the WWII. He was a hero of the people.
After some time, a politician said, “Now we are gonna ask our hero of the people to tell us few words about that heroic battle.”
The old guy took the microphone and said, “Well, son, it was a complete and absolute shitstorm”
In that moment politician took the mic and gently pulled the guy away, saying into the microphone, “We are sorry, our hero needs some rest…”
We were absolutely stunned by the old guy words. He was supposed to speak about sacrifices, the bright future of our country, how we all need to be communists, higher causes, etc.
But in fact, the old hero simply went out on stage and spoke the real, cold truth. It was bloody hell, and for him, in that moment, fancy words were not important.
I think he was too big a legend to worry about what he was saying.
Also, I think that event was the start of my doubts in any system. It was a really small start, but it was reinforced in years that came later.
The point of this story is not about war heroes or communist societies or the fact that the US is different from my region.
The point of the story is to look for real people always and to form your own circles in aquiring information. Don’t just listen to big media.
The real truth about how the fight was you could hear from that war hero, not from politicians and media.
Be warned.
For many years I did not watch TV or listen to the radio. I choose my points of information the on the internet, and still, I do find myself sometimes forming opinions based on some ridiculous information. It is in human nature to act like that sometimes.
But be warned. It becomes dangerous when you start to act based on completely wrong information, or to form your whole survival setup on it.
About the Author
Selco survived the Balkan war of the 90s in a city under siege, without electricity, running water, or food distribution. In his online works, he gives an inside view of the reality of survival under the harshest conditions. He reviews what works and what doesn’t, tells you the hard lessons he learned, and shares how he prepares today. He never stopped learning about survival and preparedness since the war. Regardless what happens, chances are you will never experience extreme situations like Selco did. But you have the chance to learn from him and how he faced death for months. Real survival is not romantic or idealistic. It is brutal, hard and unfair. Let Selco take you into that world. Read more of Selco’s articles here: https://shtfschool.com/blog/ And take advantage of a deep and profound insight into his knowledge and advice by signing up for the outstanding and unrivaled online course. More details here: https://shtfschool.com/survival-boot-camp/
Please feel free to share any information from this article in part or in full, giving credit to the author and including a link to The Organic Prepper and the following bio.
Daisy Luther is the author of The Pantry Primer: A Prepper’s Guide To Whole Food on a Half Price Budget. Her website, The Organic Prepper, offers information on healthy prepping, including premium nutritional choices, general wellness and non-tech solutions. You can follow Daisy on Facebook and Twitter, and you can email her at [email protected]</e
All powerful entity’s manipulate people; Its just a question for what purpose.
I have an unwavering belief; I don’t. What one calls distrusting another calls enlightened.
DID YOU NOTICE THAT ALL THE WOMEN OF THE SUPREME COURT VOTED TO BRING THE 80 IQ 50% INBRED MOOSE LIMBS IN?????
WOMEN MUST NOT HAVE THE RIGHT TO VOTE
It wouldn’t matter of males were there in their seat. A progressive is a progressive.
Sexist pig!!! you are entitled to your opinion but not defame women! Mac, why do you allow?
Freedom of speech does not mean abuse.
Believing themselves wise, they became fools.
Stuart;
Wow! Truer words were never spoken. Please add credits though.
Can’t stand the Media, TV dumped that 3 years ago, and Radio is filled with liberal shills, or pretend Conservatives. They are in it for the money and fame, not for great ideas.
The NWO is in a panic as they are crumbling in their last throws as they lose their grip, so they are in an all out assault on everything good in America. So turn it off, shut it down, tune it out, and block it from entering your brain.
I find in my area, there ins nothing with value o the radio these days. Maybe some 70’s 80-90’s music when Music was still music with real bands playing real instruments with music they wrote with their band.
Yup,,
Same here, i pretty much just listen to the local country station, they are one of the very few that doesnt interject their own political garbage amongst some good new country music, used to listen to the classic station that played 60s and 70s music but got fed up with the mush mouthed anouncers injecting their liberal trash every chance they got, rather listen to silence than that rubbish. No more
The facts are the US Media was hijacked in the 1950’s by the CIA under “Operation Mockingbird”. Look it up. Its all psyopp propaganda from dividing Americans to supporting the war machine as patriotic. And now seems every holiday is hijacked, and is geared to Thanking the Troops. Even Christmas where the troops overseas wish their families a Merry Chrstmas as they kill maim, destroy and commit mass genocide on foreign peoples. All to install a new dictator to set the course for a full on rape of thats countries resources on the cheap for Wallstreet Corp’s. How patriotic is that? And another helping of media BS propaganda to coverup the crume as patriotic.
Name one war in the last 100 years that the US was defending America or our Freedom? Answer= None.
Even The Dept of Def name is propaganda. Its real name is Dept of Fascism and Genocide.
I doubt this comment will be seen. truth is not allowed in America, Europe, or Internet in these False Narrative, False Media-Lying Government-Tech Controlled, times in which we find ourselves. What a mess!
This SHTFPlan Website and others like it USE FEAR to manipulate people into buying worthless junk.
Expensive, often poor quality, often does not work for intended purpose.
FEAR SELLS.
People rubberneck at train wrecks, they just have to look. No matter how Horrible.
Push FEAR and people look.
Even if it is BAD for your outlook.
Even if it is NONSENSE. People will click and look.
I have no remedy. Do you?
It is good to watch the news and listen to radio reports. Just be smart enough to know what is fake and what is real.
Propaganda is nothing new and it has been around ever since the invention of TV and radio. The Nazis did it the best.
” Just be smart enough to know what is fake and what is real.”
That can be quite difficult when the ‘data” supporting the official conclusion is in itself questionable. The rough guide I try to follow (as we all have some bias desiring to believe X rather than Y) is does the entity have something to gain? If so what? Weigh the source of “evidence” and hence plausibility of the story. Does it logically fit? If this test is initially passed over time does it still do so? Little that comes from official sources passes the final.
How do you know when a news caster is lying? His lips are moving!!!
Yep, every day’s news is like solving the latest cold case. Everyone needs to put on the Sherlock Holmes hat and examine the evidence.
^^^^^
Terrific Analysis
The Nazis did it the best.
Today its the 3ews who do it best. Massive Propaganda and hate since the bought up all the Media Giants.
The US Media needs to be busted up into a million pieces and scattered into the wind. .. I think JFK 1960’s something like that, and that was back in the early 1960’s. JFK knew what was happening. Thats why they murdered him and why our country is un shambles.
JS, good points. We all know that ALL of the corporate mainstream media is fake. Even in the alternative media there are SOME fake sources that I swear could pass for MSM. But I’ve always known what to look for. The Nazis AND Commies were both the best at propaganda. Joseph Goebbels once said if you tell a lie long enough and loud enough people will eventually start believing it. Goebbels would be really proud and jealous of our MSM. Before I ever got involved in computers I used to listen to shortwave radio on a regular basis. It’s one of the things I grew up with. Even with that I still had to watch out for BS sources. I threw out my ‘boob tube’ years ago and ditched cable. Nothing but garbage on there.
The Deplorable Braveheart
“The Nazis AND Commies were both the best at propaganda”
They did quantity lies, the USA does quality lies. Actually for the USA the quantity has increased to such a degree that quality is suffering.
Kevin2, once again you’ve hit it right out of the park. I follow the same guidelines you mention. Plus I forgot to include the USA ie OUR MSM with Nazis and commies.
Selco, we in the USA know exactly where you’re coming from.
Joseph Goebbels was a German movie producer. He wrote his autobiography. Reading someone’s autobiography is a good way to learn about a person.
But it was not Goebbels who wrote the book “Propaganda”. That honor went to the nephew of Sigmund Freud, a 3ew.
This quote about the big lie was a description of how 3ews controlled and manipulated. Supposedly, according to Goebbels, 3ews told lies so big that no one believed anyone would be capable of making up such a big lie.
So, since an ordinary German might make up some little exaggeration or little white lie, he was suspicious when hearing something that sounded like an exaggeration but swallowed whoppers hook, line, and sinker. It was a condemnation of the 3ews as tellers of Great Big Lies.
_
Wonder why it is that people love to believe the whoppers?
TV is entertainment. Every program is made-up entertainment, including the news. Witness an event, take notes, and then see how TV covers it. You’ll see.
I saw it first hand in New Orleans in October 2005. Anderson Cooper was broadcasting live on Bourbon Street after Hurricane Katrina. He was telling people that “New Orleans was open for business and everything was back up and running.”
Total lie. Only a three blocks had electricity. Everything else was out including all the stop lights.
I never could figure out why he would lie about that.
JS, I can vouch for what you’re saying. I was in New Orleans during that time frame and it was even worse. Anderson Cooper is not only a damn liar but also a member of the LGBT aka freaks. What the MSM calls their journalists are really just propagandists.
same reason why a GOP prez suddenly is responsible for the Louisiana National Guard and the NOLA response – can’t be blaming the DemoCrap LA Gov and the Chocolate City black mayor ….
Chocolate City black mayor……. who went to prison for bribes collected during Katrina.
New Orleans Black Mayor Nagle is locked in a prison cage box right now. And rightly so.
Just watching commercials and tv programs you notice the bits and pieces of propaganda inserted into the program,subtle messages meant to influence you. Doesn’t matter whether its a comedy or drama,the purpose is meant to influence the watcher. Radio does the same as do movies at the theater.
Can’t even watch tv programs anymore. The pro-homosexual and Anti-gun propaganda is totally out of control.
It is enough to make one barf.
Throw in the lessons you learn in school and work.
I read that the Rothschilds said to be worth 500 trillion own both Reuters and the Associated Press. It figures, all the propaganda that’s fit to print and broadcast over the squawkbox. No official news is good news. What happened to UPI, probably sucked up by one of the first two.
UPI is still around and even has a Twitter account.
(Some market controls were so regimented, that it was a capital offense, to own two different kinds of wood working tools.)
Those 150ish countries, which kicked them out, had a funny way of giving them legal privileges, such as to enact banking and usury.
This was tolerated — like it or not — for some hundreds of years.
How could someone who lived through it still have so little grasp of what actually happened.
ABC news with David Muir has got to be one of the most subtle and sneaky sources of deep state propaganda on the air today.
98% of all US media is owned by just six corporations.
A recent study showed Fox News the supposed conservative news source, is still actually to the left of the average American. The other five are far to the left of FOX.
I spent a several years as a marketing analysts. I could take data and draw incredibly accurate inferences. I even wrote an algorithm that I could run against data to determine if it was a human manufactured lie, or likely statistically accurate. It’s not that hard. You can give bad data less weight. You can also run without it and see who or what it benefits.
My point, half of America supports Trump, a perceived conservative, the other big five news sources represent the far left. This means Fox has roughly a 50% market share, while the others split the other halve i.e. each gets just 10% of the financial pie.
As a marketing guy, I’d advise my management that if they move to the right, they could increase market share from just 10% to potentially 25% if they compete with Fox head on. Yes, they could take a 150% increase in market share, and still be to the looney left of half of America.
So the question in my mind, these are huge publicly traded companies that are purposely discarding vast amounts in potential profits, in exchange for a political agenda?
Having watched MBA management experts totally destroy a manufacturing company I worked for, and ship off all the jobs to China and Mexico, why would the greedy beyond measure MBA’s of the news industry let so much money in profits go down the drain?
When business practices become antithetical to profits, and the bottom line of a public corporation, there is a sickness infecting that business. It is in fact a political ideology running those companies, not logic and fiscal responsibility.
Bloomberg just announced he would spend well over a 100 million dollars to put congress into the hands of Democrats, we all know all his business interests including magazines, TV, Internet and news stories will also be forced to support his agenda, screw the stock holders. This will likely represent billions in free leftist political advertising. Of course it’ll never be reported as political contributions.
I’ve watched Bloomberg dump tens of millions on anti-gun candidates and lose, he just keeps doing it. The man is insane.
The message, what is happening in America has nothing to do with profits, and everything to do with evil. When Satanist’s turn their back on fame and fortune for an agenda, know you are in serious trouble.
@ Plan twice, prep once says – that’s a very insightful and frightening analysis. Can’t say I disagree.
I read that 3 of the wives of the signers of our constitution ,died while in British prisons? And you know what that means? We stand alone?
Plan once prep twice
You are a lot smarter than I am. What should we do to maintain the quality of life we would like to, in your opinion, for the next 20 years? Not sarcasm.
To help America support Trump.
Trump is adding constitutionalist judges to SCOTUS. This is huge. To overthrow the constitution the left needed Hillary to win and install an activist liberal SCOTUS.
Trump is adding conservative judges to the courts.
Trump has more people working and less dependent on government handouts.
Trump is the first conservative in my memory who successfully challenges the media and wins. Even Ronald Reagan would bend for the media. The lessons Trump is teaching conservatives can cause a shift in power.
Just got a chuckle after looking at my plan once prep twice post
OK Selco? California finally waking up. grindall 61.
The 1% elite are far out numbered and use the media they own, as a force multiplier for their propaganda.
What can you do to stop that? Cut the cable cord and starve the beast. That would be patriotic. Also discourage all friends and family to NEVER join the Military. Aa the US Military and the Media are in lock step.
Only low IQ Morons join todays Military.
If you were the compromised republicans, democrats, bureaucracy, and members of the elite, what would you do?
Here is this outsider named Trump who was elected on a mission to tear down the structures that secure your tyranny over the people. I am certain you would try similar tactics to them. There would be the public tactics and the private tactics.
Public tactics might try to convince the population his election was a scam.
Private tactics might try to eliminate the President.
When it is all said and done, President Trump might have the unfortunate distinction of having the most failed attempts on his or his family’s lives of any President in our history (keep praying for Trump and family’s safety).
So let’s just imagine for a moment that some of these people in politics and the bureaucracy who are threatened by the Trump agenda took on the Private tactics (we already see the public tactics). Now lets consider that the President’s available assets at the NSA and MilInt have all the comms evidence of these conspiracies as well as the physical evidence of the attempted events.
They know Trump knows all this (because they failed to eliminate him). Trump knows they know. The only people who don’t know officially are Congress and the People of this country.
What happens to these deep state operatives when all Congress and the People of this country get the official word about all these Private Tactics? What happens when they find out who is behind the attempts?
Do they really have anything to lose anymore?
Perhaps that is why the Social Unrest / Rioting is being pushed.
Perhaps that is why Antifa and other sleeper cells are all being activated.
Perhaps they calculate that starting a Civil War would give them a better chance of escaping their death sentences.
They have no chance of success if they cannot stop Trump and prevent the People of our country from finding out that they are literally guilty of Treason.
It is my sincere hope that we see those who have participated in the Private Tactics at the gallows within the next year.
Military Tribunals may very well make that happen if they manage to push the civil unrest and rioting far enough.
Want to learn more?
Start at QMAP.pub
My son told me that things going hot has been mentioned on talk radio. With certain people on the left agitating for action and most of the summer ahead of us…well, it is worrisome.
I hope (and pray) that things don’t get ugly this year. With mid-terms coming up, who knows.
Appreciate the QMAP.
Anon, agreed about the scenario you outlined. I also suspect the same things will take place. As Yahooie said, with public officials advocating violence against good white people and patriots things will blow up at any time. I’m going back to the BOL next week for more ‘drills’ and ‘target practice’ aka vacation.
I know an adult who thinks he is informed because he watches CNN. I know another guy who thinks the same thing because he reads one newspaper every day. He says he doesn’t read anything on the internet because the internet is all fake. They vote. I did my polite best to let them know that they need multiple sources of info and that they must determine what is real and what is fake. It was a lost cause. They won’t accept that they were had all these years by the spin masters. Six corporations own nearly all the media in the US. They are Marxist and Globalist. They will not be pro-American any time soon. It truly is an infowar. We live in an artificial world. The truth is elusive. Don’t be intellectually lazy. Spend the time to figure out what is real and what is not.
A wise man I know once said, “No one likes to admit they were wrong.”
There’s a reason checkout counter magazines with stories about three headed aliens continue to sell.
The truth is much more dismal and most couldn’t handle the truth.
At least the concept of three headed aliens has an element of hope.
i.e. three heads are better than one.
I remember that time. In fact it was Bosnian Muslims who were the most vocal about wanting bombing and escalation of the conflict. They saw it as their moment – and it worked.
In Europe, it is always Muslims on the TV who call for more war in the Middle East. Whether it is against Assad, Yemen, or against some other faction (Shia/Sunni), the solution they always offer is violence. I have never heard one of them call for a global peace movement.
Most Muslims in the West are just agitators or militarized agents for global Islam.
Remember the old movie “The Invasion of the Body Snatchers”? We are living through something similar right now. Our thoughts are being manipulated by the news media. They are under the control of the US Government. It’s safe to assume that the government has almost total control of information dissemination. They control what info you have access to. This allows the government to form your opinions. As we speak, Facebook and Twitter and You Tube are working with the government to determine which facts and opinions you may see and read on their sites. Censorship is here. The government can create consensus for what ever the government wants to do just by providing the info that will make you concur with what they want to do. Such as wars and social change. The intellectually lazy have fallen prey to this already. To make matters worse, they don’t have to control everyone’s opinion, only 51%. In 1984, the head of the CIA, William Casey said, We will know how effective the CIA propaganda program is, when everything that every American thinks is wrong. If you’re not angry, you’re not paying attention.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scalawag
Every Mad Maxine Waters, Peter Fonda, Rene Boucher, and “fireb-mb lady,” menacing Steven Crowder, has their counterpart in a white scalawag or carpetbagger, pleading moral equivalence.
s said, “People have begged for laws and rulings against others but don’t like those laws and rulings when it later applies to them.”
Guilty as charged.
Fake, “alternative” news sites are actively censoring comments, no matter how polite, to the effect of useful idiocy, controlled opposition, and ‘radical Reconstruction’, being used to break the normals.
When laws have to be invented against someone from an incompatible place or worldview, that is true. I don’t want those to be used against me.