Propaganda Good or Bad?

I want to start off by saying that this is my first weekly column. I just want to say to my readers keep an eye out for a new article under this column every week. Comments are welcome!

Now down to business. It has come to my attention that there is a lot of propaganda in today's world. Now when you hear the word propaganda, do you think good propaganda or bad. I will say when I hear it I think of the bad propaganda out there.

Propaganda, sadly, is widely used by companies for their products, some not being the best products (condoms, alcohol, even drugs). Todays world is filled with it. The industrial world of today is making you think you are ugly or fat or believe in the wrong things based on advertisements of beautiful people and anti-religious ads. When bad ads like these are using propaganda, it poisons the minds of children today and makes them think they should be following certain standards that are not necessarily true. Now, this of course goes for adults too.

Propaganda can ruin lives by making people do drugs or alcohol which in the long run can effect them greatly. I know a guy who was perfectly smart, succeeded in school, and had great potential in life. One day was the start of his end. He got sucked into this world of propaganda and started doing illegal drugs and this ruined him forever. He did it all because of a few people saying it'll make you feel good, it'll make you popular and cool. He soon found out they were wrong and he couldn't stop his addiction. This, people, is what our kids are kids and adults are going to be sucked into. They may have plenty of potential, but could ruin it by listening to ads.

Now on a better note, there is God in propaganda too! There is good propaganda in today's ugly world, but sadly, the bad overtakes the good a lot in this world. The good propaganda can help the young kids and adults by making them want to do the right thing. I guess in a sense the bible could be considered good propaganda in the sense that the parables teach people the true meaning in sharing, giving, loving, etc.

Not only is the bible good propaganda, but so are some ads. The ads like the cartoon Popeye eating spinach and becoming strong is good to get kids to eat their spinach among other healthy foods. I know Popeye sure worked on me when I was little. You hear parents saying to their kids all the time "eat your vegetables to become big and strong" and there is some truth to that as well. After all they keep you healthy. So most propaganda is lies, but some is actually true!

The good propaganda, as I said before, is greatly overtaken by the bad, but that is why I am saying to all the people who read this, don't be overtaken by the bad. Everyone has their flaws, but smoking cigarettes and drinking beer and doing other things that are bad for you aren't going to make you pretty, popular, cool, or smart. They are just going to ruin your lives and bring you down. God made you all the way he wanted you, so embrace it rather than throw a good life away!