Patriots,As the Civil War against the LTTE separatists, to preserve Sri Lanka whole, draws to a close at high cost in the lives of our brave soldiers, and the prospect of the struggle to fashion a lasting peace looms on the horizon, it is instructive to reflect upon the words uttered by the greatest of US Presidents, Abraham Lincoln, on November 19, 1863 while dedicating a grateful Nation's tribute to the fallen heroes of the Battle of Gettysburg of the US Civil War.
The Battle of Gettysburg, was fought in the hauntingly beautiful farming town of Gettysburg, in western Pennsylvania. I lived and worked in nearby Pittsburgh for several years, and I loved discovering every glade, hill, stone wall and monument of the Gettysburg battlefield. No place looks less like a battlefield than Gettysburg; the serenity of its green rolling hills masking the brutal collision of arms witnessed there, that fateful July 1-3 in 1863. This battle was the largest (94,000 Union troops vs. 72,000 Confederate troops) and most costly in life and limb (USA: 3,200 killed, 23,000 killed and wounded; CSA: 4,700 killed, 23,200 killed and wounded) of the US Civil war.
In winning this battle, the Union Army of the Potomac led by Gen. George Meade turned the tide of the war against the Confederate Army of Northern Viginia led by Gen. Robert E. Lee, that until then, had bested the Union forces in almost every battle. The Northern states at that time had lost faith in their Army to win the war, and the political tide was turning against President Lincoln who was up for re-election. Lincoln needed this victory both to survive as President, and to preserve the Union.
The Gettysburg Address
President Abraham Lincoln
Gettysburg, Pennsylvania
November 19, 1863
Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.
Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war.
We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.
But, in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate -- we cannot consecrate -- we cannot hallow -- this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us -- that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion -- that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain -- that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom -- and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.
With the crystal clarity of our perfect hindsight, it appears that Lincoln was right in everything he said and did during his Presidency to preserve the unity of the United States, and to set the stage for a durable equitable peace, but he was dead wrong when he humbly intoned "The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here..." His immortal words ring through the ages as the very "definition of democracy" itself, and echoes in the minds of all who love freedom, long after the Battle of Gettysburg itself has faded as a distant memory into the pages of history.
Ananda-USA and fellow patriots,
ReplyDeleteWhether we disseminate propaganda on behalf of our beloved Lanka in the form of letters to the editor of a newspaper, comments in online newspapers and magazines, or comments provided on a TV/Radio program, we need to be acutely aware of basics of propaganda to have a lasting effect on the audience for such material.
Propaganda is a story-forming/story-telling technique used to impact an audience in specific ways, often employed to instigate deliberation and/or action. Propaganda is a wondrous and dangerous story device. Its primary usage in stories is as a method for an author to impact an audience long after they have experienced the story itself. Through the use of propaganda, an author can inspire an audience to think certain ways, think about certain things, behave certain ways, and take specific actions. Like fire and firearms, propaganda can be used constructively and destructively and does not contain an inherent morality. Any morality involved comes from the minds of the author and his audience. We clearly understand the true morality of helping our beloved motherland at this hour of her greatest peril.
In its most basic form, propaganda is a way for authors to have an audience share their point of view. Knowing (or preparing) your audience can have a tremendous effect on how your propaganda will impact them. Here are some rules of thumb:
* The more specific the symbols you use to encode your story, the more limited an audience it will affect. The less specific the symbols, the greater potential audience.
* The more specific the symbols used to encode the story, the greater the likelihood it will have an impact on the portion of the audience that understands the symbols. The less specific the symbols, the less impact the story will have.
* The more familiar an audience is with the symbols used to encode a story, the more susceptible they are to propaganda. The less familiar, the less susceptible.
So we need to customize our presentation based on the country/region the audience resides in. For this to be effective we need to encode specific symbols that ring true in the culture of the audience. I think it will be useful if different patriots that have resided in a specific country provide lists of symbols/phrases that stimulate the average person of that country. As for myself, having resided in good old USA for a fairly long time, I have a list of symbols/phrases I use in day to day dissemination of news pertaining to Sri Lanka to Americans. You need to weave these symbols around the meat of your presentation, certainly at the beginning and the end, but even in the middle where the actual information resides. Here are some of the symbols/phrases/anecdotes I use:
1. Sri Lanka has an unbroken tradition of democratic governments since it’s independence from Britain. Our military has always been subservient to the civilian leadership just as it’s been in US.
2. We had the world’s first women head of state. Especially useful if the audience is female or liberal minded.
3. Our governments have always been friendly to America. Our people love and admire Americans for their culture, love of liberty, and ingenuity. To reinforce this point I throw in an anecdote about the American neighbor I had in Sri Lanka who used to be a pilot for Air Lanka in the old days and how we had such friendly neighborly relationships including the wife of the dude always returning our Cricket ball to us with a smile whenever it went over their wall, where as some grumpy Lankan neighbors used to confiscate them.
4. One of the first Americans to become much loved by us was Colonel Henry Steel Olcott (August 2, 1832 – February 17, 1907) was the founder and first president of the Theosophical Society; he was the first well-known person of European ancestry to make a formal conversion to Buddhism. His subsequent actions as president of the Theosophical Society helped create a renaissance of study of Buddhism. He is still honored in Sri Lanka for these efforts.
5. Our love of wildlife and nature, including how our kings set aside wild life sanctuaries, our rich history of tamed Elephants running back to Kandula some 2000 years ago, and the Buddhist philosophy of not harming animals. This especially appeal to environmentally conscious.
6. The religious freedoms enjoyed by all Sri Lankans including probably the only country where you get a holiday for each and every major Buddhist, Christian, Hindu, and Muslim religious holiday.
7. We are a small country, but is a major participant in the Global War on Extremism (which replace Global War on Terror recently).
8. LTTE is the terrorist organization that invented suicide bombings. They passed this technology to Al-Qaeda and other terrorist groups.
Cheers!
Konappu Bandara, brother,
ReplyDeleteThis is excellent advice for us to bear in mind as we move to defend Sri Lanka and capture their hearts and minds for supporting for the motherland.
In short, "Speak to the Values of the Audience" or equivalently, "When in Rome, do as the Romans do"!
Ananda-USA, dear chap,
ReplyDeleteI propose that we add a new topic to address techniques for effectively countering LTTE propaganda. This topic for an example can have lists for each country where our propaganda efforts need to be directed, provided by patriots that have resided in a specific country for a significant amount of time, containing symbols/phrases that stimulate the average person of that country. It will then be useful for patriots who have to generate a rapid response to an event to grab a few items from these lists and weave them into the presentation.
Cheers!