People in countries like China don’t revolt because the system works for them and supports them. It’s ironic that you claim propaganda impacts all of us, while then immediately repeating the most bog-standard anti-communist propaganda straight from the US state department. I highly recommend reading False Witnesses, “Brainwashing”, and Masses, Elites, and Rebels: The Theory of “Brainwashing” in order to better understand how people think, and how propaganda actually works. Propaganda works by providing justification for what people perceive to materially benefit them, not by simply convincing them of fantasy.
Thanks for your comment, it made me realize I mixed two things together. What I referred to is not really propaganda. It is lived experience. If you have not seen one person who successfully changed something and everyone who tried had to bear immense consequences - not just them but their loved ones - your motivation to try approaches zero. You get taught it’s not worth it. You’re powerless, and to be fair, it is rather true.
And yes, life in Russia is, for the most part, decent. You have a job. You have access to education, movies, you can build a family, buy an apartment, start a business. You can have fun. It’s not a free life with endless possibilities, there are suppressions, no free elections, all that jazz. But your everyday life is pretty ok. Why give that up for the pursuit of some higher ideal like freedom, especially when you get told over and over again that it will bring nothing good and no change. Yeah it sucks that other people die but it’s not you, and if you would so much as go outside with a piece of paper saying “No War”, your life as you know it is fucked, and the people who suffer won’t be any better off either. Solidarity is not worth the price of your sacrificing yourself and your loved ones. Basically, the struggle and pain isn’t big enough, there is still something left to lose.
Maybe I would call it self made propaganda, but this is just a gut feeling, not a real term.
All 3 of the countries you bring up are different. Russia is the most likely to have a revolution, while the PRC and DPRK are the least likely, less likely than countries like the US or UK.
Russia is currently in the position its in because capitalism was devastating for them. The west came in and plundered and looted the former productive forces until the nationalists kicked them out (Putin’s faction), running themselves into an even more hostile situation with the west. Communist party membership is rising, soviet nostalgia is rising, and now even the ruling class is paying lip service to Lenin, Stalin, and their soviet heritage.
China is not going to have a revolution because it’s socialist and the system works for the people. It’s plain and simple, the people support their system at a far higher rate than western countries:.
The DPRK is in a situation similar to Cuba. It’s heavily sanctioned, but does fairly well when considering just how devastating both the Korean War and the Arduous March were (in the 90s, when the Soviet Union fell). Its economy is growing around 3.5%-4% per year, and food is relatively secure now too. The people blame the US Empire for the lack of their ability to trade and sell outside, though they now do trade heavily with Russia and China, meaning they are less likely than ever to revolt.
Neither the PRC nor the DPRK are perfect, of course, but they are far from revolution, not because of something like “propaganda” but because their systems don’t work like you think they do.
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Funny, CIA wants them to revolt too.
People in countries like China don’t revolt because the system works for them and supports them. It’s ironic that you claim propaganda impacts all of us, while then immediately repeating the most bog-standard anti-communist propaganda straight from the US state department. I highly recommend reading False Witnesses, “Brainwashing”, and Masses, Elites, and Rebels: The Theory of “Brainwashing” in order to better understand how people think, and how propaganda actually works. Propaganda works by providing justification for what people perceive to materially benefit them, not by simply convincing them of fantasy.
Thanks for your comment, it made me realize I mixed two things together. What I referred to is not really propaganda. It is lived experience. If you have not seen one person who successfully changed something and everyone who tried had to bear immense consequences - not just them but their loved ones - your motivation to try approaches zero. You get taught it’s not worth it. You’re powerless, and to be fair, it is rather true.
And yes, life in Russia is, for the most part, decent. You have a job. You have access to education, movies, you can build a family, buy an apartment, start a business. You can have fun. It’s not a free life with endless possibilities, there are suppressions, no free elections, all that jazz. But your everyday life is pretty ok. Why give that up for the pursuit of some higher ideal like freedom, especially when you get told over and over again that it will bring nothing good and no change. Yeah it sucks that other people die but it’s not you, and if you would so much as go outside with a piece of paper saying “No War”, your life as you know it is fucked, and the people who suffer won’t be any better off either. Solidarity is not worth the price of your sacrificing yourself and your loved ones. Basically, the struggle and pain isn’t big enough, there is still something left to lose.
Maybe I would call it self made propaganda, but this is just a gut feeling, not a real term.
All 3 of the countries you bring up are different. Russia is the most likely to have a revolution, while the PRC and DPRK are the least likely, less likely than countries like the US or UK.
Russia is currently in the position its in because capitalism was devastating for them. The west came in and plundered and looted the former productive forces until the nationalists kicked them out (Putin’s faction), running themselves into an even more hostile situation with the west. Communist party membership is rising, soviet nostalgia is rising, and now even the ruling class is paying lip service to Lenin, Stalin, and their soviet heritage.
China is not going to have a revolution because it’s socialist and the system works for the people. It’s plain and simple, the people support their system at a far higher rate than western countries:.
The DPRK is in a situation similar to Cuba. It’s heavily sanctioned, but does fairly well when considering just how devastating both the Korean War and the Arduous March were (in the 90s, when the Soviet Union fell). Its economy is growing around 3.5%-4% per year, and food is relatively secure now too. The people blame the US Empire for the lack of their ability to trade and sell outside, though they now do trade heavily with Russia and China, meaning they are less likely than ever to revolt.
Neither the PRC nor the DPRK are perfect, of course, but they are far from revolution, not because of something like “propaganda” but because their systems don’t work like you think they do.