So far my list of defined terms are:
Propaganda - I will be using my own definition of this word, just to narrow such a broad concept down. For the means of this project, the definition of propaganda is any information (whether true or false) presented in such a way as to sway the beliefs of any individual or group. I am excluding advertisement, and other non political things from consideration, as that would make the scope of this project very broad.
Ideology - I will be using a definition similar to that of the political theorist Slavoj Zizek, which is a set of beliefs formed unconsciously by larger social forces used to justify violence
Liberalism - The dominant ideology of today's world, based in a belief in market capitalism and free democracy, essentially todays status quo. To clarify, there is negligible ideological difference between modern "liberals" vs "conservatives" because the meaning of those terms is so muddled in modern american discourse. Democrats and Republicans all believe in fundamentally the same few things, like the constitution, patriotism, capitalism, and freedom. The differences come in what role they believe the government should play in society, who it should or shouldn't try to help. But from the perspective of propaganda, they are effectively the same. I should note that a vocal portion of the republican party has moved significantly towards the right wing in recent times.
Left-wing - typically refers to ideologies which seek to limit capitalism, or replace it with a socialist system. This is an incredibly broad term which can be applied to authoritarians or libertarians/anarchists and be equally correct. Often, leftists adhere to the economics of Karl Marx, but not always,
Right-wing - believe in capitalism with less freedom for those they consider other, such as poor, nonwhite, lgbt, or non christian people.
As I said in my last post, I am going to focus on the means of transmission each ideology uses, and what that implies about our culture. This will make up the bulk of the third section.
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