Propaganda Quote Analysis

The quote I selected was #661, "Give me the writing of a nation's advertising and propaganda, and I care not who governs its politics." This is saying that one can learn much about a government by observing how it tries to impress itself on its citizens. Public impression of this government is not important to Hugh MacLennan, the one quoted, as that can be manipulated by propaganda. And not even the message given by the advertising is as important as the methods and rhetoric used to get the point across. One government could be sending a blatant, undisguised message supporting communism; while another could be sending an innocent, peaceful one hidden under layers and layers of persuasive techniques. While Westerners would be more inclined to support the latter message, the method of propaganda reflects negatively on that government's methods and relations with citizenry. Now imagine that the first country was China and the second America. That should not change our newly gained knowledge because, as MacLennan was saying, the name and type of government matters less than its propaganda methods. If one is smart enough to analyze it, a government's advertising can lay bare the inner workings of the government itself.