Propaganda
Propaganda is a very special use of rhetorical fallacies—or, better said, a very sneaky use of them. Sometimes people want to make an argument that has very little evidence at all, and they will make posters, public announcements, or advertisements that use rhetorical fallacies to convince us that they are right, even though they don't have much evidence to support their line of reasoning.
To put things simply, propaganda has one of two purposes: It convinces us that something (or someone) is much better than it actually is, or much worse than it actually is. Many rhetorical fallacies are used in propaganda, but in general, propaganda will try to convince us by exaggerating information or by only telling one side of a story.
During wars between countries, their governments love to use propaganda. It's a way of convincing the public that one country is "the good guys," and that the other country is full of "bad guys" that need to be beaten. The information presented in propaganda is often partially incorrect or a flat-out lie.
Posters
Take a look at this US propaganda poster from World War II (right). The ad was created to try to get people to carpool and save gas, so that more gas would be available for the tanks, cars, and planes of the US Army. The purpose of the ad is actually quite good (to save energy and support the troops), seeing as the Nazis definitely needed to be defeated. However, in attempting to do a good thing, the ad does stretch the truth. Does not joining a carpool take some gas away from the US Army? Maybe. But is it really the same as actually giving a ride to Hitler himself? Definitely not.
Almost every country in the world has used propaganda at some time or another. For another example, look at this poster that was made and distributed in the Soviet Union (communist Russia) around the time of the Cold War (right). The men in the poster represent the United States and other capitalist countries, and they sit on thrones atop a pile of dead or dying bodies. The poster is accusing capitalist countries of taking advantage of the poor. Is capitalism a perfect system? Definitely not. However, does capitalism actually cause the amount of death and suffering as in this poster—and do Americans (or people from capitalist countries) all look and think like the men shown in this poster? Definitely not. Propaganda only tells one side of a story, and it is a very skewed and disturbing-looking side.
Cartoons and Children
Propaganda isn't just aimed at adults. Many people try to aim their propaganda at the most young and impressionable minds available, at children. Here are a couple examples:
I don't speak Korean, but I don't have to understand it in order to get the basic message from this old cartoon, "Pencil Rocket," that was shown to children in North Korea: Americans are bad, and North Korean children must learn math in order to be prepared to fight them. Look at the rhetoric of this cartoon: the images, the music. What does the happy, bouncy music suggest that accompanies the sinking of American ships? I think it suggests that war is fun (which is obviously not the case).
Notice that the American ships all have scary "monster faces," and you can't see any people in or on the
ships. Why do you think the creators of the cartoon chose to make the ships look like that?
If you think your country is only full of "good guys" and can do no wrong, you might be surprised. Most countries have used propaganda in one way or another. During World War II, the United States put out a lot of propaganda against other countries, including Germany. Take a look at this Donald Duck cartoon that shows the supposed horrors of living as a loyal Nazi in Nazi Germany. Was it bad for the average citizen in wartime Germany, even if they supported the Nazi party? For many people, yes. However, was life in Germany as horrible for all citizens as the movie portrays it to be? Probably not. (To be clear, we are not talking about the Holocaust in this example. Obviously theirs was a different fate. May the victims of that horrible genocide rest in peace.)
For some more examples, you could consider the racial caricatures employed in American wartime advertisements, including some by none other than Dr. Seuss himself. Propaganda has been used by most countries at some point, either distorting the truth or reflecting a distorted view held by that country at that time.
Is Propaganda Ethical?
(Spoiler alert: Not really.) Even if you think you are on the side of the "good guys," you have to ask yourself: Is it justified to use propaganda if I think it will achieve a good result? Many governments apparently thought their goals were good, and they also thought that their ends justified their means. However, as we look back decades later, we are amazed that anyone could ever be so biased and blind. Will future generations say the same thing about the propaganda that is put out today? We will have to wait and see. In the meantime, we should try to use rhetoric for only good purposes, and we should avoid using rhetorical fallacies or being deceitful to our audiences.