From: mars1933@hotmail.com   
      
   Here are parts of a speech by Dr. Joseph Goebbels, delivered in   
   Nuernberg in 1934. The ending of this speech is in the film Triumph of   
   the Will.   
      
   "It is difficult to define the concept of propaganda thoroughly and   
   precisely. This is especially true since in past decades it was   
   subject to unfavorable definitions, particularly as the enemy defined   
   it with regards to us Germans. First, then, we must defend it. Those   
   abroad sometimes claim that in the past we Germans were particularly   
   good in this area, but that unfortunately is not consistent with the   
   facts. We learned this all too clearly during the World War. While the   
   enemy states produced unprecedented atrocity propaganda aimed at   
   Germany throughout the whole world, we did nothing and were completely   
   defenseless against it. Only when enemy foreign propaganda had nearly   
   won over the greater part of the neutral states did the German   
   government begin to sense the enormous power of propaganda. It was too   
   late. Just as we were militarily and economically unprepared for the   
   war, so too with propaganda. We lost the war in this area more than in   
   any other.   
      
   The cleverest trick used in propaganda against Germany during the war   
   was to accuse Germany of what our enemies themselves were doing. Even   
   today large parts of world opinion are convinced that the typical   
   characteristics of German propaganda are lying, crudeness, reversing   
   the facts and the like. One needs only to remember the stories that   
   were spread throughout the world at the beginning of the war about   
   German soldiers chopping off children's hands and crucifying women to   
   realize that Germany then was a defenseless victim of this campaign of   
   calumny. It neither had nor used any means of defense.   
      
   The concept of propaganda has undergone a fundamental transformation,   
   particularly as the result of political practice in Germany.   
   Throughout the world today, people are beginning to see that a modern   
   state, whether democratic or authoritarian, cannot withstand the   
   subterranean forces of anarchy and chaos without propaganda. It is not   
   only a matter of doing the right thing; the people must understand   
   that the right thing is the right thing. Propaganda includes   
   everything that helps the people to realize this.   
      
   Political propaganda in principle is active and revolutionary. It is   
   aimed at the broad masses. It speaks the language of the people   
   because it wants to be understood by the people. Its task is the   
   highest creative art of putting sometimes complicated events and facts   
   in a way simple enough to be understood by the man on the street. Its   
   foundation is that there is nothing the people cannot understand,   
   rather things must be put in a way that they can understand. It is a   
   question of making it clear to him by using the proper approach,   
   evidence and language.   
      
   Propaganda is a means to an end. Its purpose is to lead the people to   
   an understanding that will allow them to willingly and without   
   internal resistance devote themselves to the tasks and goals of a   
   superior leadership. If propaganda is to succeed, it must know what it   
   wants. It must keep a clear and firm goal in mind, and seek the   
   appropriate means and methods to reach that goal. Propaganda as such   
   is neither good nor evil. Its moral value is determined by the goals   
   it seeks."   
      
   "Each propaganda had a direction. The quality of this direction   
   determines whether propaganda has a positive or negative effect. Good   
   propaganda does not need to lie, indeed it may not lie. It has no   
   reason to fear the truth. It is a mistake to believe that people   
   cannot take the truth. They can. It is only a matter of presenting the   
   truth to people in a way that they will be able to understand. A   
   propaganda that lies proves that it has a bad cause. It cannot be   
   successful in the long run. A good propaganda will always come along   
   that serves a good cause. But propaganda is still necessary if a good   
   cause is to succeed. A good idea does not win simply because it is   
   good. It must be presented properly if it is to win. But a good idea   
   is itself the best propaganda. Such propaganda is successful without   
   being obnoxious. It depends on its nature, not its methods. It works   
   without being noticed. Its goals are inherent in its nature. Since it   
   is almost invisible, it is effective and powerful. A good cause will   
   lose to a bad one if it depends only on its rightness, while the other   
   side uses the methods of influencing the masses. We are for example   
   convinced that we fought the war for a good cause, but that was not   
   enough. The world should also have known that our cause was good.   
   However, we lacked the effective means of mass propaganda to make that   
   clear to the world. Marxism certainly did not fight for great ideals.   
   Despite that, in November 1918 it overcame Kaiser, Reich and the army   
   because it was superior in the art of mass propaganda.   
      
   National Socialism learned from these two examples. It drew the   
   correct practical conclusions from that  knowledge. The ideal of a   
   socialist national community did not remain mere theory with us, but   
   became living reality in the thoughts and feelings of 67 million   
   Germans. Our propaganda of word and deed created the conditions for   
   that. Mastering them kept National Socialism from the danger of   
   remaining the dream and longing of a few thousand. Through propaganda,   
   it became hard, steely everyday reality."   
      
   "Marxism could not be eliminated by a government decision. Its   
   elimination was the end result of a process that began in the people.   
   But that was only possible because our propaganda had shown people   
   that Marxism was a danger to both the state and society. The positive   
   national discipline of the German press would never have been possible   
   without the compete elimination of the influence of the liberal-Jewish   
   press. That happened only because of the years-long work of our   
   propaganda. Today particularism in Germany is something of the past.   
   The fact that it was eliminated by a strong central idea of the Reich   
   is no accident, rather depended on psychological foundations that were   
   established by our propaganda.   
      
   Or consider economic policy. Does anyone believe that the idea of   
   class struggle could have been eliminated only by a law? Is it not   
   rather the fact that the seeds we sowed in a hundred thousand meetings   
   resulted in a new socialist structure of labor? Today employers and   
   workers stand together in the Labor Front. The Law on National Labor   
   is the foundation of our economic thinking, realizing itself more and   
   more. Are not these social achievements the result of the long and   
   tireless labor of thousands of speakers?"   
      
   "We could eliminate the Jewish danger in our culture because the   
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)