Preservation of America's Wildlife

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  • Wildlife On Public Lands & Strategic Propaganda

    John W. Cox – M.A. C/M

    Strategic propaganda is a systematic, deliberate communication effort designed to manipulate attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors to achieve specific political, military, or ideological goals. It uses tailored messages—through media, social networks, and imagery—to exploit emotions over reason, often amplifying existing biases or creating false narratives to serve a specific agenda. 


    Elements of Strategic Propaganda

    • Targeted Manipulation: Unlike open persuasion, propaganda often relies on deceit or extreme bias to move audiences toward a predetermined action.
    • Emotional Appeals: Focuses on stirring fear, pride, hate, or patriotism, such as using scapegoats or “fear, uncertainty, and doubt” (FUD) to drive opinion.
    • Repetition and Dissemination: Utilizes news reports, social media, films, and government reports to create a “surround sound” effect, ensuring the message seems unavoidable or universal.
    • Selective Information (Card Stacking): Omitting facts or highlighting only information that supports a specific narrative. 

    Techniques 

    • Name-calling: Labeling opponents to incite fear or prejudice.
    • Glittering Generalities: Using vague, virtuous words (e.g., “freedom,” “justice”) to gain approval without examination.
    • Transfer: Using authority symbols to project authority onto an idea (e.g., using a flag to imply patriotism).
    • Testimonial: Citing celebrities or respected figures to promote an idea.
    • Plain Folks: Presenting leaders as average, relatable people.
    • Bandwagon: Creating the illusion that “everyone is doing it” to encourage compliance. 

    Modern Application

    • Social Media & Disinformation: Foreign actors use social media for coordinated influence campaigns, creating content that appears homegrown to influence foreign politics.
    • Military Info Ops: Used to influence emotions and behavior of enemy populations or military personnel, often termed “political warfare”.
    • Economic/Commercial: Used in marketing or public relations to shape consumer perception. 

    Countering Propaganda

    Effective counter-propaganda often requires more than fact-checking; it requires addressing the underlying emotional and human desires that the propaganda exploits. 

  • Bigotry/Bias Toward Wildlife is A Mental Disorder

    By John Cox, M.A. C/M

    Extremely rigid, delusional, or hateful bigotry (often cloaked as Heritage or cultural rights), social or within the Wildlife & Animal (i.e. abuse, killing for sport, et al.) can act as a symptom of serious mental dysfunctions. Paranoid personality disorder or psychotic disorders, involving projections of fear onto others, as we see in Northern California with Wolves (now among other areas as well), or in Nevada with Wild Horses, among other examples.

    While not classified as a mental illness itself, pathologically extreme bigotry is increasingly recognized as a dangerous, reality-impaired symptom. 

    • Delusional Disorder: Extreme racism or prejudice or hatred / fear toward Wild Horses & Wolves, Apex Predators, et al., can function as a delusional symptom, characterized by fixed, false beliefs impervious to reality.
    • Psychotic Disorders: Hateful behaviors can be symptoms of schizophrenia or bipolar disorder.
    • Projection and Paranoia: Bigots may project their own unacceptable behaviors and internal fears onto minority groups, or into Wildlife / Apex Predators (falsely challenging them in absentia) a known feature of mental dysfunction.
    • Impact on Health: Exposure to bigotry, bias, and discrimination is a well-established cause of trauma, leading to psychiatric conditions like PTSD, anxiety, and depression. 

    Clinical Perspectives

    • Mental Health Issue: Experts note that racism / speciesism causes trauma. Some argue that extreme racism / speciesism should be recognized by the American Psychiatric Association as a delusional symptom of a mental health problem, as it poses a danger to others.
    • Pathological Bias: Studies on Pathological Bias examine how extreme, irrational prejudices fit into established psychiatric frameworks.
    • Treatment Limitations: While severe bigotry is a symptom of dysfunction, it is often tied to deeply held beliefs, making it difficult to treat. 

    Consequences of Bigotry and Bias

    • Mental Dysfunction: Individuals with these issues often have serious social dysfunction, including impaired abilities to maintain relationships and employment.
    • Increased Danger: Persons with such psychopathology can become a danger to themselves and others, particularly when delusions lead to violent acts.
    • Societal Impact: Hateful ideologies and actions are rapidly spread through social media, requiring proactive strategies for developing emotional awareness and reducing prejudice.