Proper Propaganda

Let’s do our job!
In 1961, Cuban schools close for several months. Students are sent to the countryside in ‘alphabetization brigades’ to teach the population reading and writing. The exercise books are highly political: among the first words taught are ‘Organization of American States’, ‘agrarian reform’ and ‘cooperation’. According to government statistics, contested by others, illiteracy is reduced from 20-25 to 4-5 percent.

Better not to be, than not to be revolutionary
In the orthodox socialist realist fashion, a slogan like this is illustrated with giant workers and heroic soldiers. Mederos chooses a purely typographic solution, where contrasts of black and white and differences in size are to enhance the meaning of the words. Upper case and lower case letters are mixed.

Setback
The sugar harvest of 1970 is big, but the desired ten million tons are not obtained. A comforting slogan is introduced: try to turn this setback (’reves’) into a victory (’V’ for ‘victoria’).

A listing of potential topics which the final piece could address. These issues will will/may require legislation to control, and are most likely to have a direct and visible impact on the population at large.

CO2 Emissions
Higher fuel efficiency standards
Greater use of public transport
Alternative transport methods
Emissions caps for industry

Clean Energy Sources
Economic initiatives for use and development
Heavy taxation of “dirty” energy sources (coal, oil, etc)
Localized power development

Excessive Consumerism
Buying according to need rather than want
Buying locally and discouraging unnecessary importation
Regulating product safety and examining lifespan

Conservation of Resources

Apparently the polar bears aren’t doing too bad after all.

Ten years from now we will be living in a drastically different world than today.
Through the early actions of our society in response to this crisis, we are continuing a constant drive of socially progressive innovation. Resulting from a system of proactive government reforms and a culture of social responsibility we are moving towards a sustainable future. This is supported by letting every citizen know their role and what is expected of them in building this new future.
This is the message of the Eco-Conscious, “Responsibility: The Hallmark of a Bright Future”

Ten years from now we will be living in a drastically different world than today.
Sweeping and drastic reforms will be required from our government to stem the tide of global climate change, mandating a substantial loss of civil liberties. The government will need to instill a new ideology in it’s citizens in order to impose these changes.
This is the message of the New Green Order, “Your Compliance Ensures Our Survival”.

Concept Development
Determine the audience.
Select the key environmental issues to focus on (Plan B)
Determine the application of federal legislation to those issues (Plan B, CBC)

People to Contact
Change Design Done. Meeting tentatively scheduled for Friday afternoon.
Lester Brown (again) Done. No response yet. Email again tomorrow.
The Heritage Moment creators In progress (have to call toronto office)

Further Research Subjects
Goebbels (SS) and Nazi war propaganda, both international and domestic, to see how his department applied techniques. In progress
Prepackaged media promotions of Greenpeace. Still no luck. Emailed Mateesco for references.
Foucault and his writings on surveillance and fear. In progress (reading)
Orwell’s writing and Stalin’s portrayal to see how they used the same figures to apply to multiple audience segments.

Deliverables
Revised proposal with bibliography.
Three basic concept iterations.
Mood boards? Maybe.

Observations
Apparently Heritage Moments (Historica Minutes) have a pretty potent effect, on both a Canadian audience, as well as on impressionable Filipinas. Their propagandistic nature might be debatable, but they definitely serve a purpose in invoking a sense of patriotic pride, in a subtle way. It’s worth noting that part of the reason why the Heritage Moments have found such a deeply rooted place in the psyche of the average Canadian is due to their proliferation across the airways for a number of years.
Part of the reason that they got so much airtime was in fact a result of indirect government intervention. Every broadcaster in Canada is required to show a certain amount of Canadian content in their programming. One hour of Canadian content for every 6 hours of something of the sort. While most of the time it gets counted minute by minute, the Heritage Minutes were counted as 90 seconds or 2 minutes (something like that) of national content, despite their set length of 60 seconds. This allowed broadcasters to use them to meet their content quotas more efficiently.
This sort of “soft propaganda” seems to resonate with Canadians, but in the context of this project, would the a harder approach be more effective in sparking discussions amongst viewers?

Discussion with Alex:
Research into Foucault and his writings on surveillance and fear.
Look at the work of Goebbels (SS) and see how his department applied techniques.
Look at Orwell’s writing and Stalin’s portrayal to see how they used the same figures to apply to multiple audience segments.
Review the prepackaged media promotions of Greenpeace.
Consider the media that will be used, and it applicability to the audience.
Contact the people who made the Heritage Moments to get some insights into the format they used.

No, I didn’t make this during class before presenting. Whatever would give you that idea?

Thank you CBC for succinctly summing up all of the party’s platforms on climate change in one place, so I don’t have to try to.
Climate Change: Where the Parties Stand

Hey! You with the laptop. Vote!

I just received a call from the office of the NDP candidate in my riding of Vancouver East, Libby Davies, asking if I would be willing to once again volunteer some time to helping out by canvasing over the phone to support her campaign. This raised an interesting question for me, since I had previously taken for granted that the NDP would get my vote. I usually consider a vote for the Green Party to be a vote wasted*, and the alternatives of the Liberal Party and the Conservatives rather unappealing. Given that my sole political concern this election is where the parties stand on issues of climate change reform, I realized that maybe it was time to once again take a look at the various platforms to see what I think would be the best option in line with what I consider important.

*It was recently brought to my attention that a small aspect of the Canadian Federal Election system has slipped by the notice of most people. That being that for every vote that a party receives in every riding, they receive an increase in their federal funding for the following election. This means that every vote does matter, and does help, even when the candidate in your riding is pretty much doomed to absolute failure (ie Ryan Warawa in Vancouver East, seriously, why even bother spending the money?)
This brings me back to the basic principle that guides our democratic system. One person, one vote, and every single one counts, if only just a little.

Back to the matter at hand. Since this project is intrinsically linked to climate reform, and the government policies which will direct, I’d like to present you with some quick shortcuts to the environmental platforms, or lack thereof, for each of the four Canadian federal parties worth mentioning. Since I’m also a visually minded person, each of them has the image which is most prominent on their page discussing their policies.

The New Democratic Party:

“Practical, mainstream, step-by-step plan to address environmental crisis”

The Green Party:

“AVERTING CLIMATE CATASTROPHE”

The Liberal Party:

“The Liberal green shift plan: A bold response to the climate change crisis”

The Conservative Party:

“Conservatives are taking real action on the environment to build a stronger, safer, better Canada.”

The Bloc Quebecois:
Is pretty much completely irrelevant to this debate, since they are a one-province party with no real vision outside of Quebec. Personal Note: I was born in Quebec, and I consider their arrogance and presumption, as well as their consistent desire to destabilize national unity with unrealistic chatter about issues of sovereignty pretty damn embarrassing. Also, they only offer their website in French, presumably since no one in Quebec speaks english. Someone should inform the folks living in Montreal’s English Quarter about that. That said, if you read french and want to hear what they have to say, feel free.

And on October 14th, for fuck’s sake, make the hour or so of time that it will take to vote. It does matter. And if you don’t, you should consider whether or not your lazy ass deserves any of the social benefits we all enjoy in this country.