Woke-jihadi complex and their tactics

As long as the message is simple and emotional, one can repeat it and make the audience believe it is their own decision to accept it.

Whoever can conquer the street will one day conquer the state. Joseph Goebbels

Discredit the democratic process and the institutions that sustain it, is their modus operandi. The most effective propaganda is not necessarily the lie. It is the repetition of a selective truth until it becomes the only truth people remember. There is an old tactic: choose the facts that serve the agenda, discard those that complicate it, construct a narrative, repeat it relentlessly, and eventually the constructed narrative acquires the appearance of reality. Then scream bordering on abuse, spin manufactured and manipulative agenda setting to frighten the opponents. But that’s just one thread. There are several others like deception, emotional manipulation, selective facts, one-sided arguments, constant repetition, and the most lethal of them: the weaponization of knowledge. Traditionally, the arena for using these is no longer simply the newspaper or the political rally. Instead, the university classrooms, the so-called research projects, the nonprofits, and the media platforms have turned out to be the most effective and lethal platforms, using not merely their traditional tactics but increasingly the algorithm to advance their agendas. They stifle dissenting opinions. Prioritize identity over individual merit and foster cancel culture.

In the 20th century, Joseph Goebbels was often regarded as one of the most effective users of propaganda through the media. His understanding was simple but dubious: publicity, be it positive or negative, has value. The vile Nazi propaganda deliberately used newspapers, radio, film, posters, rallies, and education as interconnected instruments. Provocation itself, as it turned out, could generate publicity. Commercial advertising techniques, be it catchy slogans, emotional triggers, repetition, or striking visual presentation, all got imported and adapted into politics. In design, the principle worked because of its simplicity. As long as the message is simple and emotional, one can repeat it and make the audience believe it is their own decision to accept it. We hear, “Faith moves mountains,” but one must remember that it is knowledge that moves people into action at the right place and at the right time. Because once they repeat a simple proposition sufficiently often, eventually even an absurdity can be made to resemble common sense. The propagandist’s practical objective, therefore, is to control the rules, timings, and frequency of the information environment and shape public behaviour. That is why propaganda never remains confined to speeches. Fancy posters, large type, red ink, provocative headlines, photographs, slogans, marches, songs, and banners all perform the same function. A meeting preceded by a procession is not merely a meeting. It creates an atmosphere before anyone speaks. Provocation invites attention, which in turn produces coverage that, again, only amplifies the message. The ensuing violence may later be portrayed as something opponents caused or enabled. All this to demonise the opponents and weaponize bodies to target a legitimately elected government. Branding opponents with all the negatives is part of the construction of the fake narratives. Meanwhile, the mobilization is treated as benign, where the only opposition to it is what went wrong.