propaganda-2
Explanation
This multi-panel comic is a dialogue about why propaganda works. In the first panel, someone asks: "How do people ever fall for fascist propaganda, when it's invariably hamfisted and stupid?"
The response comes across multiple panels, explaining: "Propaganda isn't stupid -- it's coded to reach a stupid audience. People who research truth are best sellers are a great filter -- only gullible people persist. And believers are a great source of in-group loyalty."
The explanation continues: "Imagine being part of a group where the price for entry is believing a tiny minority with strong opinions can seize control of an entire country. You are dumb, and you select for a community of dumb."
In the final panels, the conclusion is offered: "So just don't take the community and you'll be safe. There is no need to select for gullibility if you protect critical thinking."
But the last panel delivers the punchline, showing the person exclaiming: "Wait, no! I don't get it... Those bastards have all the space-powers!" -- revealing that the listener has already fallen for something absurd, undermining the entire lesson.
The comic explores the mechanics of propaganda and radicalization with genuine insight: propaganda works not despite being stupid, but because its stupidity serves as a filter, selecting for people who are credulous enough to be loyal followers. This is a well-known concept sometimes called the "Nigerian Prince" theory of scams -- making the pitch obviously fake filters out people who would waste the scammer's time.
The punchline undercuts the intellectual discussion by showing that the listener, despite having the mechanics explained to them, is themselves susceptible to absurd beliefs ("space-powers"), demonstrating that understanding propaganda intellectually does not make one immune to it.