Earlier quoted context omitted.
"Once you’ve been to Cambodia, you’ll never stop wanting to beat Henry Kissinger to death with your bare hands. You will never again be able to open a newspaper and read about that treacherous, prevaricating, murderous scumbag sitting down for a nice chat with Charlie Rose or attending some black-tie affair for a new glossy magazine without choking. Witness what Henry did in Cambodia – the fruits of his genius for st…
Why just Henry Kissenger? Do you really think this boils down to a single person?
Pentagon and CIA shaped thousands of Hollywood movies into effective propaganda
131–140 of 577 posts
Re: Pentagon and CIA shaped thousands of Hollywood movies into effective propaganda
#132Earlier quoted context omitted.
Up until 1990 that was a reasonable approximation to the truth. The USA certainly had its issues, but in a comparison between the USA and the USSR there was no question about who the relatively good guys were. Since the USSR collapsed, and especially since 9/11, things have gotten a lot murkier.
> but in a comparison between the USA and the USSR That's a false dichotomy if I ever seen one.
Re: Pentagon and CIA shaped thousands of Hollywood movies into effective propaganda
#133Aside from military, this tactic became obvious to me when space became (again) a theater of conquest around 2010, involving both private and public sectors, internationally. The narrative around space became very strong, sending messages of conquest, entrepreneurship, science, dreams, you name it. At the exact same period, bloomed movies like: Mission to Mars, Gravity, Interstellar. I won't be surprised to see a sur…
While that's true, the fundamental missions in space that we are likely to fly are basically all about science and engineering. Even (I speculate) the classified ones. Satellites provide either telecommunications or fundamental information about our world or the universe in which it sits. That information is not going to be inherently military -- it's the purposes that it is put to that may be. On the other have, eve…
So, movies like The Martian? I wish I could come up with more examples, and I hope someone replying to me does...
Re: Pentagon and CIA shaped thousands of Hollywood movies into effective propaganda
#134Earlier quoted context omitted.
Yes, Russia had pushed Germany the whole way back into Berlin by 1945. Russia defeated Germany in Europe in WW2 the other allied powers basically showed up when it was all over.
I feel like this is a facile view of the situation, especially if you take Lend-Lease into account. The fact that U.S. schools and media tend to downplay the importance of the USSR war effort in favor of Western allies doesn’t mean we should immediately take the polar opposite stance. I’ll quote British historian Anthony Beevor (who, by the way, agrees that the Soviet Union was key in defeating Germany): “[T]he reaso…
Also see my other comment, about the production issue, Russian achievement is really huge: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29836874
The US supported itself with Lend-Lease. Giving weapons to others ensured they didn't have to deal with a victorious Germany.
Quoting:
> David Glantz, the American military historian known for his books on the Eastern front, concludes:
> Although Soviet accounts have routinely belittled the significance of Lend-Lease in the sustainment of the Soviet war effort, the overall importance of the assistance cannot be understated. Lend-Lease aid did not arrive in sufficient quantities to make the difference between defeat and victory in 1941–1942; that achievement must be attributed solely to the Soviet people and to the iron nerve of Stalin, Zhukov, Shaposhnikov, Vasilevsky, and their subordinates. As the war continued, however, the United States and Great Britain provided many of the implements of war and strategic raw materials necessary for Soviet victory. Without Lend-Lease food, clothing, and raw materials (especially metals), the Soviet economy would have been even more heavily burdened by the war effort. Perhaps most directly, without Lend-Lease trucks, rail engines, and railroad cars, every Soviet offensive would have stalled at an earlier stage, outrunning its logistical tail in a matter of days. In turn, this would have allowed the German commanders to escape at least some encirclements, while forcing the Red Army to prepare and conduct many more deliberate penetration attacks in order to advance the same distance.
> Left to their own devices, Stalin and his commanders might have taken twelve to eighteen months longer to finish off the Wehrmacht; the ultimate result would probably have been the same, except that Soviet soldiers could have waded at France's Atlantic beaches.
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lend-Lease
Interestingly this American historian seems to believe Russia would have won anyway - with grave consequences for the West.
Re: Pentagon and CIA shaped thousands of Hollywood movies into effective propaganda
#135Earlier quoted context omitted.
My bet is that most groups have this in them. Being right, being the hero. America just had the lead in entertainment and tech
In my experience, other countries don't view themselves that way, and it's mostly seen as an Americanism (I'm not American)
Re: Pentagon and CIA shaped thousands of Hollywood movies into effective propaganda
#136Earlier quoted context omitted.
Try asking most people about the Vietnam War, then visit Vietnam, especially the war museum in Saigon. Then pay a visit to the Landmine museum outside of Siam Reap, in Cambodia, to learn about Nixon's secret war that carpeted the border between Cambodia and Vietnam with bombs and landmines without anyone knowing. That's a trip that would make you rethink America big time. It absolutely did for me. As an Italian, I wa…
What was bad about it? The idea was to make overland transport through Cambodian territory (which U.S. did not want to outright invade) to supply Vietcong as difficult as possible. Vietnam war may have been brutal, and eventually lost, but it disincentivised everyone else in the Southeast Asia from turning to Communism, so in the end it was a net benefit for the free world.
Re: Pentagon and CIA shaped thousands of Hollywood movies into effective propaganda
#137Earlier quoted context omitted.
> I think Hollywood is lot less subtle now at trying to push political propaganda I think the past efforts were pretty blatant. I think we just know more about how they operate and so it becomes easier to see. > wokeism Would love to know what this means.
Something like this? https://twitter.com/raytheontech/status/880497266255175685?l... It's not that there's something wrong with gay rights, or any other specific social cause powerful organizations adopt. It's just that it's a very cheap way to win a positive image for things that ... would have trouble getting a positive image if focus was on their core business.
Whenever I see someone use “woke” as an insult… it’s been an inconsistent mishmash that matches what was called “political correctness gone mad” when I was a kid — stuff the user doesn’t like but knows better than to say plainly that they don’t like.
Of course, I know plenty of people who have used the word “woke” positively, in the same way I know people who respond to “X is PC gone mad” with “X & PC is just being polite to people”.
Hard to tell what the common current use is though, given the lack of social connection during the pandemic and living in a non-English speaking country. Online polls have a self-selection bias, but I wouldn’t know in which direction that bias alters results.
Re: Pentagon and CIA shaped thousands of Hollywood movies into effective propaganda
#138Earlier quoted context omitted.
Yes, Russia had pushed Germany the whole way back into Berlin by 1945. Russia defeated Germany in Europe in WW2 the other allied powers basically showed up when it was all over.
I feel like this is a facile view of the situation, especially if you take Lend-Lease into account. The fact that U.S. schools and media tend to downplay the importance of the USSR war effort in favor of Western allies doesn’t mean we should immediately take the polar opposite stance. I’ll quote British historian Anthony Beevor (who, by the way, agrees that the Soviet Union was key in defeating Germany): “[T]he reaso…
Re: Pentagon and CIA shaped thousands of Hollywood movies into effective propaganda
#139Re: Pentagon and CIA shaped thousands of Hollywood movies into effective propaganda
#140Earlier quoted context omitted.
> I think Hollywood is lot less subtle now at trying to push political propaganda I think the past efforts were pretty blatant. I think we just know more about how they operate and so it becomes easier to see. > wokeism Would love to know what this means.
It's the name of a fairly recent kind of cult, more or less related to the left, and trying to influence a lot of the political/corporate/cultural world.
I’m wondering what specifically you disagree with and why that is a cult?