The Propaganda Parody Spectrum
March 20, 2021
By AHNZ
Let us contemplate the Propaganda/Parody spectrum.
This Labour 6.0 propaganda (ref video below) is on the verge, perhaps over it, of unintentionally crossing over into self-parody.
There are two powers in politics: The power to criminalise and the power of comedy. Apollo and Dionysus (if you want to get Nietzschian.)
Those in Government get the power to ban and otherwise criminalise by force all that they are against. But their opposition gets the power to mock and caracature and joke and sing about the current Powers That Be.
As we reach the tipping point of the in-group being the out-group in political power, the use of authoritarian force to criminalise becomes greater. But the comedy gets better too. Eventually the scales tip, the two groups switch sides. The new government is loved and attractive, charismatic and witty. The old government, now ousted, is bitter and exiled and resented. Eventually both groups re-discover how to embody what they once sought not to be and the scales tip again.
“History repeats itself, first as tragedy, second as farce” – Karl Marx.
“Democracy is the worst form of government, except for all the others,”- Winston Churchill.
“These venereal-disease prevention posters graphically illustrate the shift in attitudes between the 1960s and the 1980s. The first, with its warning of danger, dark colour, and single serious face, was produced in 1969. Sex and sexually transmitted diseases were no laughing matter. The second, brightly coloured poster features a group of naked cartoon men and women, and the letters ‘VD’ in large, bright yellow type.” – Shifting Attitudes, teara.govt.nz
You can see why democracy is the “worst form of government.” Society as a whole keeps turning on these bipolar rampages between who gets to be hunter and hunted. The best time to live is within a time of balance between powers, before extremities develop, so that’s lucky for some but very unlucky depending on your year or birth. Anarchists think we can do better than this endless war.
With propaganda like this who needs to be parodies? A good thing too as the state of comedy is oddly lagging behind at the moment. All the ‘comedians’ in New Zealand have so far been bought and made media pets. That can’t last much longer.
—
Image ref. No State Power (comedy) vs State Power (criminalisation); AHNZ (2016)
Ref. Period of Sustained Propaganda; NZB3
Ref. Summer festival Covid remix cost taxpayers nearly $40k; Newstalk ZB (Mar 2021)
Like Comment Share
