Institutional Racism

Politicians distract the public by showing them "shiny object" issues through the use of
TV and other media. Sometimes they can be as simple as a politician with a reality
show, like Sarah Palin had for a short time back in 2009, which aired on TLC.
Distracting the Public
This a mere variation of the traditional arguments known, in logic, as ad
hominem and ad populum but applied to countries instead of individuals. This technique
consists on refuting arguments by appealing to nationalism or by inspiring fear and hate
towards a foreign country or to all the foreigners. It has the potential of being important
since it gives the propagandists the power to discredit any information coming from
other countries.
Some examples are:
• Q: "What do you think about Khokara's politic on X matter?" A: "I think they've been
wrong about everything for the last 20 years or so..."
• Q: "Your idea is quite similar to the one proposed in Falala." A: "Are you suggesting
Falala is a better country than ours?"
Straw Man Fallacy
An informal fallacy. The "straw man" consists on appearing to refute the opponent's
argument while actually attacking another topic. For it to work properly the topic that
was actually refuted and the one that should have been refuted need to be similar.
Distraction by Scapegoat
This is a combination of the straw man fallacy and the ad hominem argument. It is often
used to incriminate someone in order to argument the innocence of someone else.
This is a very important tactic for governments and politicians, and it even made its way
to the famous book The 48 Laws of Power by Robert Greene, in the Law #26 titled:
"Keep you hands clean".
Photo Manipulation
Visual media can be transformed through photo manipulation, commonly called
"photoshopping." This can make a product, person, or idea seem more appealing. This
is done by highlighting certain features on the product and using certain editing tools to
enlarge the photo, to attract and persuade the public.
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