Propaganda, Hidden Amongst us in Disguise?

            Does propaganda still exist you may ask? Yes it does but it hides in plain sight and remains invisible but to only the untrained eye. Now first off let us discover what propaganda is.


Propaganda:
• information that is spread for the purpose of promoting some cause.
Now where does this exist you may ask? Its actually all around us but it subliminal. Lets take McDonald's as an example. They take famous athletes or celebrities to star in their commercials to promote their food to the younger generation when we all know that the food is bad for you. 
             Now how about another example. Lets say terrorism? After 9/11 the word "Terrorism" has been tossed around quite often when we talk about the war in the middle east. At first many people would of not supported the invasion of Iraq but after 9/11 that changed drastically. Many people wanted to feel safe after 9/11 so when politics talk about "fighting terrorism" people don't really seem to understand the situation but would continue to support it to have this sense of security. Fear can be a essential tool to propaganda.
             A silly but not so different example of this would be episode 17, season 5 of Family Guy where Lois runs for mayor. In order to win the election she resorted to propaganda on terrorism. She started saying these idiotic things about terrorist plans and such so the people of the town said: "How much money do you need until we can feel safe again?" After that they blindly started throwing money in. So basically she was spreading information (that is not necessarily true) for the purpose of some cause. 
            Now there are countless more examples of propaganda but thats all for now. 

Free Response On Black Boy

                         Compared to todays society it seems hard to believe the stories in this book are true. Richard has experienced so much in his childhood that not of us could compare. Nowadays I hardly believe any of us have been beaten to near death circumstances by our parents (at least I hope not). I don't understand why family would do that to one and another. I get the idea of punishment but this seems like they just want to hurt him. I couldn't stand the idea of me hurting any of my family members to such a circumstance. Yet Richard lived in a violent time where strict rules would seem just. I don't however agree with it.
                        The thing that I find really annoying though that at any time Richard gets in trouble he hardly understands why. More like beat now and answer questions later. We must remember that Richard was really young during these events. He hardly understands why he does the actions he does. Sadly whenever he gets into trouble its always one sided. He can never get any support and he would always be branded as the wrong one. So I was glad to see when he stood up for himself against his aunt for wrongly accusing him of making a mess. He now understands that he has to be strong and aggressive to survive in this world of his.
                        So far the book has been great. Can't wait to see what happens next.

Hungry for Attention (Is young Richard alone in his cravings? )

                 Richard seems to be always looking for attention. . He didn't like the feeling of being ignored. Yet isn't it just natural that children crave the attention of adults? Don't you ever have that one child that walks up to you and wants to show you how well they can count for over an hour? Richard is not alone for he is not much different from many other children.
                  Despite the fact that Richard set his house on fire and killed a kitten for attention he isn't much different then any other child. In our reading you can see that Richard loves playing 20 questions. He constantly asks his mom what does this or what does that mean to the point where he becomes a nuisance. I myself have had a little brother that loved to play that game. The fun was one sided. Richard just wants a little attention. With his father gone and his mom constantly at work he just needs someone to show him a sense of purpose. Sense his mother is always at work she most likely ignores him while shes busy. He wants his presence to be seen and not go unnoticed. Even I as a child would just walk up to my mom and constantly call out her name until she finally responded. This was very annoying to her but it does end up getting her attention.
                So Richard isn't alone. He's just like every other child seeking the attention of their parents. Children are kind of like sponges. They'll keep with them anything you say and they are always anxious to hear more.