Surface Propaganda

I was explaining to some friends that we often see memes or read blogs that represent surface propaganda. I'll explain what this is from what I know of it.

For instance, you go to a country fair and you see, on the surface, a lot of exciting things. You're enjoying your visit. That's all you do. You take in the luxury of the day, with all the fun and excitement, without knowing what's going on behind the scenes. You don't see the problems that are being resolved or if they're being resolved. You don't know the cost of running the fair or the stress it takes for you to enjoy your visit. You come back, every day the country fair is in town, and you think it's a utopia. You think, why can't everyone have a fair like this?

Now magnify that country fair into a state fair or world fair. Many more issues to resolve on a bigger scale. On the surface, everything's wonderful but beneath the surface there are tons of things being done to make it seem perfect. Yet, in that perfection, things still will go wrong and on a larger scale.

However, not everything will remain on the surface. People will see what's going on and may become disillusioned. Furthermore, whether a small or large event, you will never please everyone every time; people will gripe for whatever reason.

Six years of working for Disney taught me this about surface propaganda. It taught me that not everything is as it seems. It taught me to check the facts - above and below the surface. Life also taught me to be careful about feeling desperate and following anyone offering utopia. As the saying goes: if it's too good to be true, it normally is. There are plenty of Pied Pipers singing their tune. We know how the rats ended in that story, as well as the children.

Images: Disney's Pied Piper