Propaganda

Propaganda sometimes accomplishes positive societal ends as with campaigns to reduce drunk driving. However, distillers and brewers use similar techniques to market their products that probably increases drunk driving. It also applies to promotion both for and against drug use and abortion. Consequently, the term has no meaning unless the communicator provides a stipulated definition. Generally, the term describes communication strategies used to indoctrinate a target audience with ideas that serve the best interests of the communicator despite audience skepticism and repugnance.

That definition of propaganda describes the relationship that exists between Council House directors and staff (landlords) and residents (tenants) - disrespect of senior citizens by a wealthy elite. The directors have no use for liberalism or democracy yet claim absolute control in the name of liberalism and democracy by using propaganda. Elderly tenants then become confused not from mental deterioration but through obfuscation and coercion.

Nazis indoctrinated Hitler youth from an early age using coercive persuasion and terrorists train suicide bombers the same way in the Middle East. Traditionally, brainwashing has resulted in obedient people who agree with whatever their leader ordains. Similarly, Council House treats its elderly tenants as “vulnerable adults” (childlike) ripe for ideological indoctrination. Administrators and their thugs vilify, cajole, blackmail, and character assassinate tenants to intimidate them into conforming to a neo-fascist ideology. The directors connive with them to enforce a coercive program of propaganda, prior restraint, censorship, and perjury, that has resulted in deaths, unlawful evictions, and jail terms. [Vulnerable Adults]

US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), the Council House oversight authority, has adopted a laissez faire policy over many years. It does virtually nothing about the misappropriation of government funds and resident abuse then withholds public records to cover up its neglect. This allows the directors, in a consort with several Washington Superior Court judges, to violate federal law with impunity and to financially benefit from unlawful activity supported by propaganda.

Council House propaganda consists of the planned distortion of information to adulterate the public media and to use personal contacts and fear to affect the minds, emotions, and actions of gullible senior citizens for economic and political purposes to the financial advantage of a cruel, racist, elitist board of directors. [01]

Straussian Deception

Council House tenants do not question policies for fear of reprisal by administration thugs who force them to write apologies for asking embarrassing questions. Stephen Mitchell Then uses those “confessions” for blackmail. His principal Kapo, Felippe Jacques, prides himself on his vigilantism to excuse his own violence and consistently applies a barbarous perspective of management zero-tolerance polices to control and deceive tenants. [Noblesse Oblige]

Council House policy follows the convoluted thinking of an obscure German Jewish political philosopher named Leo Strauss who immigrated to US in 1938. He later taught at several universities including University of Chicago until his death in 1973.

Strauss saw deception as a political necessity while professing a deep respect for American democracy. He advocated a controlled society with a ruling elite and masses following them like lemmings. Unlike Plato, Strauss had very little concern with morality among leaders. Under a similar policy, Council House directors rule through an amoral leader or dupe with indifference to the suffering of his tenants. They follow him in fear of retaliation for perceived disobedience of his ideological precepts. Directors and staff apparently follow the Straussian belief that:

Those who are fit to rule are those who realize there is no morality and that there is only one natural right - the right of the superior to rule over the inferior. [02]

Council House enforces that ideology through perpetual deception. The landlords tell their tenants only what they think they should know regardless that partial disclosure employs half-truths and lying by omission. They completely ignore federal regulations that require full disclosure. They refuse to recognize the duplicitous nature of their administrator Stephen Mitchell who combines a lack of social-science proof with his thespian ability to conceal facts and lie pathologically.

Another Strauss analogy stems from the directors contempt for secular democracy. Observers have long argued for a much greater role for religion in the public sphere. Some have suggested that the US mistakenly insists upon separation of church and state. Strauss viewed religion as an essential for imposing order and moral law on common people to control them absolutely. Paradoxically, he stressed that the rulers need not be bound by moral law because truths proclaimed by religion amount to nothing more than "a pious fraud".

Secular society leads to individualism, liberalism, and relativism, precisely those traits that promote dissent and dangerously weaken totalitarianism. The political utility of religion as an "opiate of the masses" helps explain why secular Jews have allied themselves with neo-fascist identity groups. [Neo-Fascist Identity Groups]

Strauss believed that an inherently aggressive nature needs restraining by a powerful nationalistic state using the notion that mankind is intrinsically wicked and needs governing. He believed that government comes from unity through subjugation using a Machiavellian concept that if no external threat exists then one needs manufacturing. Shades of the current situation in Iraq.

Mitchell emulates Gulliver by pissing on tenants to extinguish fantastic fires that only exist in his imagination:

When Lilliput was on fire, Gulliver urinated over the city, including the palace. In so doing, he saved all of Lilliput from catastrophe, but the Lilliputians were outraged and appalled by such a show of disrespect. [03]

Interpretation

When people hear the word “propaganda” they tend to think of huge campaigns like those used by Hitler and Stalin in the 1930s and more recently by Bush and Blair in their invasion of Iraq. However, propaganda in other organizations ranks just as perniciously and little agreement exists on a definition of the term.

Some people argue that all persuasive communication ranks as propaganda while others insist that only dishonest messages apply. However, most of them agree that propaganda relies on symbols to manipulate collective attitudes. To that end, propagandists start by trying to convince individuals to believe that stated conclusions have evolved from their own decision-making process and not from those of a leader. They accomplish this by demonizing other people or groups of people and by linking their ideology and hidden agendas to valid goals of target social groups. They use an admix of truth and lies or lie pathologically (believe their own lies) to debase honest activity to their own ends. [Art of Thespian Lying]

Propaganda typically appeals to the emotions not to the mind. Emotional agitation works for the propagandist because it diminishes critical inquiry and directs energy to the chosen ideology. It relies upon the dissemination of ideas and information for the purpose of inducing or intensifying specific attitudes and actions. It invariably contains false or misleading statements frequently accompanied by distortions of fact and appeals to passion and prejudice. No matter what its objective, propaganda attempts to persuade through rational or emotional appeal or through the manipulation of personal opinion.

Critical inquiry, in contrast to propaganda, persuades people to engage in dialogue without trying to indoctrinate each other - a learning process with two-way communication through incessant questioning of assumptions, motives, and ideals.

Tyrants cannot survive under those conditions. They perceive a threat to their ideology that they must counter before it develops into discourse and eventual questioning of their motives. Instead, they use a preconceived and systematic manipulation of symbols that promotes uniform behavior within social groups congruent with the specific aims of the tyrant.

Propagandists do not accept the compromise of argument and debate. Instead, they manipulate symbols that affect basic human emotions. They agitate emotions, by exploiting insecurity and by capitalizing on language ambiguity. They turn rational thinking and logic into an acceptance of fiction as fact to create an inherent fear within individuals or a particular group of people. They destroy critical inquiry and replace it with indoctrination.

In recent years the growing sophistication of propaganda techniques has become evident in election campaigns. Large corporations and commercial interests use advertising and other techniques in attempts to develop public support for legislation favorable to their interests. Moreover, technological advances within electronic media have had a significant impact on modern propaganda.

A lack of truth in society allows the impression that propaganda no longer has a negative connotation. A lethargic and apathetic populace has the impression that propaganda exists to fill the void. Politicians, advertisers, and journalists all use persuasive techniques to influence human behavior hopefully for the public good. However, a more sinister and pernicious form of coercive persuasion hides behind benevolent dictatorship often practiced by directors of non-profit organizations. They use it to consolidate power over others for personal profit.

Coercive Persuasion

Propaganda falls into three general categories, white, grey, and black: white deals with overt psychological indoctrination; grey uses anonymous sources to coercively persuade both overtly and covertly; and, black purports to emanate from a source other than the true one. Council House propaganda falls into the grey category.

The administrator had a sound if dishonest psychological strategy. He decided to persuade residents that they had friends among the directors and that they should support them. This now deflects misappropriation of funds and abuse of tenants onto the administrator who acts as the directors’ unsuspecting dupe.

However, they made a big mistake in directing propaganda against the tenant rank-and-file. They failed to give credence to highly intelligent and creative elderly people within that constituency. Arrogantly, they refused to recognize the capability of an elderly constituency to defy them when they tried apply dictatorial rule. Their attempts at coercion enraged many senior citizens to a point where it stiffened their will to resist - corporate unlawful action caused lawful reaction and civil disobedience.

Essentially, in a senior citizen community, as in any democratic society, adults need to behave like adults and not to succumb to indoctrination that classifies them as “vulnerable adults” or childlike. They need to think and to make up their own minds without allowing indoctrination by landlords or administrators with secret political or financial agendas.

Independent thinking goes hand-in-hand with thinking in consort with other people. This recognizes the right of all to form different conclusions independently. Anything less smacks of neo-fascism. Democracy means standing on one’s own feet then using critical inquiry to come to a compromise by thinking both separately and with other people.

Stool Pigeons

Unfortunately, at Council House, thugs create emotions of hate and fear to get targeted people to comply absolutely with a predetermined orthodoxy based upon power and greed. Centralized political control results from dishonest strategies. Like most tyrants, they frequently use dishonest techniques and strategies based upon information received from stool-pigeons planted within the community.

The administrator, for reward in kind, places a person in the community to spread information that misleads which allows him to function secretly. The spy or observer uses two-way communication to distort fact and influence behavior and usually works in a given communication location such as a morning coffee room or a computer facility. A misleading piece of evidence so placed, or a remark so made, like an action or narrative in a play becomes important later to the actor (administrator) in manipulating his audience toward a conclusion. [Art of Thespian Lying]

Perhaps the directors should emulate the military that routinely manufactures victories to give an impression that war equates with democracy. Judicious word replacement turns vile acts into an appearance of humanitarian gestures - replacing the term “invasion” for “liberation” immediately springs to mind.

This type of propaganda totally undermines a population’s ability to think critically about events from fear of classification as unpatriotic with subsequent banishment. A repetition of simplistic, emotional appeals replaces analysis with simple syllogism. That specious reasoning particularly applies when administrators use slogans like “zero-tolerance policy” as a means to deal with social needs.

Judicial manipulation of freedom of expression has become rife with legal interpretation of laws governing emergent communication technologies. Prior restraint by unlawful means allows control of media. Then "interactivity" cannot balance unbalanced social relationships important as a platform for propagandists. Court-ordered censorship (or political correctness) makes it impossible to comment on any given situation without fear of reprisal or retribution for challenging propaganda or ideological statements. [Political Correctness]

The difference between leadership democracy and totalitarian ideology relates to critical inquiry - the give and take of discourse. People who cannot, or in fear will not, raise questions do not deserve to lose their freedom of thought and expression. However, that certainly comes about when they acquiesce to propagandist strategies that use zero-tolerance policies. History shows that freedom disappears first in times of political crisis and social dislocation. The events at Council House emulate government behavior which make it more important than ever for government to step in and effect change at that housing complex.

Residents Association

Council House propagandists strive to drive a wedge between residents association leaders and residents. The effectiveness of that propaganda varies from time to time depending upon the mental stability and integrity of the president. Absolute control over lifestyles remains the goal in almost all areas of Council House administration.

Council House directors have directly interfered in the election of residents association officers so that later they can manipulate people holding those offices. They recently destroyed 40 absentee ballots (out of a possible total of 165 votes) to influence an election and elect officers who reflect administration ideology.

Dissenters failed to stand up for their civil rights and freedom of expression in fear of abuse by thugs attending the meeting. Dissidents have for several years accepted totalitarian rule and succumbed to constant pressure from management under threat of eviction and incarceration for their views.

Nazi Propaganda

A Nazi pamphlet provides some insight into the role reversal that exists within Council House and typifies the propaganda strategies that management uses. It illustrates how propagandists distorted information then bent minds of American troops. The pamphlet did not name a source so it classifies as grey propaganda.

The author made artful use of racial distinctions using fear and deception to exploit the emotions similar to techniques now used by Council House administrators. The pamphlet entitled Girl You Left Behind describes a Jewish war profiteer and bankruptcy lawyer, Sam Sternberg, who courted then seduced an American soldier's girlfriend. The soldier lost a leg in the war and arrived home to find his girl sporting a fur coat and jewelry.

The effectiveness of this propaganda lay in the use of a latent anti-Semitism among American soldiers to create a conflict among Gentile and Jewish soldiers. This diminished military effectiveness. It also gave the impression that Jewish lawyers with wealth and privilege could evade military service to profit from a war that injured or killed patriots.

Role Reversal

In a role reversal that alludes to European holocaust practices, Sheila Sternberg, a former Council House co-president, now director and wife of bankruptcy lawyer Craig S. Sternberg (Sternberg Thomson Okrent & Scher - Seattle) held an unlawful “resident’s meeting”. She used the pretext of an art show to disseminate propaganda. Todd W., residents association president, manipulated the audience and allowed only residents who belonged to an elite management support group to contribute their art to the subterfuge. [04]

Residents who attended the “art show” reported that Sheila Sternberg used it for propaganda and to deny reports of management malfeasance - malfeasance now awaiting a hearing before the Washington appellate court. Her meeting followed similar lines to Coffee with Steve meetings held each month at which Stephen Mitchell spends an hour or more demeaning residents although she used a softer touch. At his meetings, Mitchell selects residents having views different than his own then castigates them publicly using thespian skills and propaganda techniques. Thugs attend all his meetings then intimidate dissenters afterwards.

A tape recorded Coffee with Steve meeting (17 Jan 01) demonstrates Council House propaganda. Stephen Mitchell repeatedly used the therapeutic term “feeling” as a weasel word. He coerced residents into thinking that others pose a danger to them when they do not. This particular type of propaganda keeps residents in fear of losing their apartments and in trepidation of action that Mitchell and his thugs will take against them if they voice an opinion. [Statement to Council House Tenants by Landlords' Administrator]

Media Disinformation

Karen Chachkes, Associate Publisher, The Jewish Transcript, Seattle, did not have the courtesy to respond to messages about publishing disinformation. Consequently, one must infer that she supports repeated publication of propaganda in her paper. Her concern relates to what the directors think the public should believe about Council House and what The Jewish Transcript does to support them in their deception. Her reporters spin the stage acting aspect of the administrator knowing about his racism and resident abuse.

The complaint related to propaganda about Council House written by Rita Weinstein and Jessica Davis. It gave Chachkes an opportunity to address publication of propaganda or disinformation and to take action to remedy the unethical behavior of her reporters. Weinstein wrote about a Council House Kapo (thug) who has repeatedly assaulted residents (she obviously did not check the police blotter) in glowing terms. She depicted this self-declared anti-Semite as a poster boy - unethical reporting to say the least. [Noblesse Oblige] [Marquis de Sade]

Several Council House residents complained about inaccuracies in the article published in the Jewish Transcript (07 Feb 03) "Council House celebrates centenarians and Internet connections" written by Weinstein. The article contained false and misleading information apparently fed to Weinstein by the propagandist Felippe Jacques himself. He wrote propaganda about himself then Weinstein interviewed him and wrote an article about him and two other Council House propagandists apparently without fact-checking. One must ask whether Council House advertising revenue caused Weinstein to slant her story to such a dishonest extent.

Weinstein wrote nothing about the international outrage among journalists and the protracted legal action related to the same issues on which she misrepresented the facts. A trip to the King County records office or this web site would have informed her of the details.

An article by Jessica Davis, The Jewish Transcript (25 May 01) entitled "Council House's Stephen Mitchell adds Drama to Retirement Life" also contains extensive disinformation and propaganda. Like Weinstein, Davis also turned fact into fiction.

Conclusion

Responsibility implied by traditional identification with charitable causes does not exist at Council House. Amoral directors and managers remain indifferent to evil. Their propaganda exploits the empathetic nexus between modern Jews and camp survivors at the expense of the latter. The directors have created a ghetto and installed neo-fascist managers. After experiencing that evil, one asks how long they can avoid the concomitant stench of evil by continuing to manipulate law using censorship, propaganda, and corrupt judges.

Disturbing Nazi imagery in current movies raises more unsettling questions than it answers about the erotic component in building a ghetto disguised as a non-profit charitable institution. Saul Friedlander called it "fascinating fascism". He questioned whether a brazen generation obsessed with Nazism has a fatal attraction to it. He claimed that holocaust survivors tend to handle their past either by blocking it out or by struggling to deal with it. [06]

Friedlander drew a grotesque and chilling picture of prewar Germany. The largely middle-class, educated population looked the other way during the systematic removal of Jews from government, business, and cultural life. In return they lived in a time of economic prosperity and growing international power. Fear of a similar situation developing has apparently caused a role reversal where descendants of Nazi victims have become tyrants who use similar methods to increase wealth and power.

Victimized people have for centuries absorbed the insidious attitudes of their oppressors in a psychological neutralization process that supports role reversal. That reversal provides comfort and returns them to a cultural milieu. Propaganda uses those attitudes by symbolizing either suffering or evil. In the case of evil, attitudes depend upon economic advantage assured by a Holocaust industry based upon greed or an abject fascination with neo-fascism itself. Council House ideology combines both attitudes.

Using role reversal, Council House directors rely upon censorship and propaganda to direct public attention away from dysfunctional behavior, resident abuse, and misappropriation of federal funds. They know that expression becomes meaningless without freedom to publish ideas and opinion. Consequently, they silence dissenters with court orders for prior restraint then jail them. Council House directors and judges have shown an indifference to evil and a subservient local media supports them - indifference to evil is evil.

Nmesis.

© Copyright 2003 by Paul Trummel
All Rights Reserved: 01 Jun 03/07:21 GMT
Edition: #801-28-20/05-1003-17:59
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