"PROPAGANDA, MEDIA AND CONSPIRACY IN ACTION"
Interview with Larry Romanoff
Edited by Elvia Politi for Saker Italia
We present the interview we had the honor of doing with one of the world's leading experts on "propaganda." Larry Romanoff has been dealing for years with the topic of manipulation and consensus management as a tool of governments (and those who maneuver these governments) towards public opinion. That is, toward each of us. Through his lucid analysis and simple evidence of "facts," he not only reveals some of the most recent cases but also teaches us how to recognize propaganda campaigns. And how to fight them.
In the interview:
- What is propaganda and what is its purpose
- The Covid case and the two World Wars
- Reality and fiction, the conspiracy theory
- How propaganda has changed, how and where it applies now
- Geopolitical propaganda
- Avoiding brainwashing
• Elvia Politi (E.P.) -- A very timely and urgent topic, propaganda is a phenomenon that everyone understands but is difficult to codify. Larry, can you explain to us what propaganda is and what its purpose is?
LARRY ROMANOFF (L.R.) -- A simple definition of propaganda is that it is the dissemination of information used to influence public opinion to adopt a certain point of view or to promote a particular political cause. It is generally a method of population control by those who have political or financial power. Propaganda is almost always associated with information of a biased or misleading nature, consisting of a mixture of facts, half-truths, and outright lies. Propaganda is not only psychological manipulation but actually "psychiatric" manipulation, directed to affecting the emotions of people and through this to control their thinking and behavior. It employs behavioral theory extracted mostly from the teachings of Sigmund Freud and, in its worst form, it is always insidiously manipulative, using the deepest fears or longings of people to create acceptance of a particular point of view, to become emotionally charged about that point of view, and to lead to action of some kind.
The two primary uses of propaganda have been to inflame a nation's public to support a war, and to engineer and promote social changes.
