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The constant greed and the pursuit of money has murdered quality in the streets and shamed it with the blood of expediency. The education system only furthers this greed, with constant affirmations that if you work hard enough you can become rich and powerful. This only makes you a slave to the state as you strive for the “American Dream”. The rich only make money off all the profits. The American education system is based on the Prussian system which breeds factory workers and slaves to the state. It gives you enough knowledge to work and pay taxes but not enough knowledge to question authority. Our education system and the media convince us that violence and revolution are never a solution, however, throughout history, revolution is the only thing that has brought change.
Since WWII, the U.S. government has used disinformation on a relatively widespread basis in order to win public acceptance of weapons and interventionist policies that would otherwise be scorned. The United States Central Intelligence Agency has many documents leaked and declassified which have shown their true intentions with the American publics’ view of foreign policies and America as a whole. The term “disinformation” has a negative connotation and is often used when referring to false information which is intended to mislead. This term is often used when referring to propaganda issued by a government, especially to sway one’s view against a rival power.
During the 1950s the word “disinformation” according to Oxford Dictionary comes from the word “dezinformatsia.” In the United States, the word has deep roots within our government and politics. In 1981, CIA director William J Casey stated, “‘We’ll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false.’” (“The Spread of Disinformation and How We Respond”) Disinformation has plagued the American public, not only with media bias and fake news but also with the widespread use of false information created by the Central Intelligence Agency to sway our view of our country. To understand this, we must understand what the intention of the creation of the CIA was. In the article “Operation Mockingbird,” it states, “Wisner was told to create an organization that concentrated on "propaganda, economic warfare; preventive direct action, including sabotage, anti-sabotage, demolition and evacuation measures; subversion against hostile states, including assistance to underground resistance groups, and support of indigenous anti-Communist elements in threatened countries of the free world." (Lifton and Simkin). It also states, “Later that year Wisner established Mockingbird, a program to influence the domestic American media… By this time Operation Mockingbird had a major influence over 25 newspapers and wire agencies.” (Lifton and Simkin). Operation Mockingbird is a major project by the CIA to spread pro-American propaganda. In 1962, the CIA created Operation Northwoods, a false flag operation to build public support for a war against Cuba. This operation would include terrorist attacks perpetrated by the US government and which would be blamed on Cuba. Although this was challenged by the 35th US president, John F. Kennedy, who opposed the CIA and wanted it abolished, it would be soon after that he was assassinated. This is the modern and US-centric form of disinformation. They intend to mislead the public and use this propaganda against their rival ideals.
The lies that the CIA created during the Cold War have shaped our society. The Vietnam war is another negative example of how disinformation has plagued this country. It says in a New York Times article, “They had found no evidence of a Soviet plot to take over Vietnam, much less Southeast Asia.” (Becker). This shows us the negative connotation of the word disinformation and how our country has been taken over, not by Communists or Soviets, but by lies from our own government.
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