Members of the European Parliament are considering setting up a website aimed at presenting children with a “playful” presentation of the EU.
The plan, which would seek to instil in children positive feelings about the EU, was highlighted by the Express today. The paper condemned the project as ‘sinister Soviet-style propaganda.’
EU institutions already spend over £2billion a year on ‘communications’ in a desperate bid to improve their failing public image.
The same paper warned in another article today that “knowing the mindset of the European Union, with its passion for control, for expanding its remit, for trampling on national sensibilities in pursuance of its dream of a superstate, one can guess which way a proposed website for children will lean.”
When asked about these plans to target children, UK Independence Party deputy leader and MEP, Paul Nuttall, said, “Our children need to be protected from this type of political propaganda because they are vulnerable and easily manipulated. Of course, that is the reason they are being cynically targeted by the European Parliament.”
He added “We have seen a profusion of cartoons, comics, schoolbooks and videos from the EU which are aimed at our children and are obvious propaganda.
“People should be aware of this and prevent this stuff coming into their homes and their children’s school. Political propaganda on vulnerable kids is a form of child abuse.”
This is not the first time the EU has targeted children in an attempt to preserve its declining public image.
We warned last year about EU attempts to indoctrinate school children after EU official, Judith Schilling, said, “everybody has now picked up the idea that we will never succeed in convincing people about the value of being a member of the European Union if we do not start early enough with the young people, before they form prejudices and are misinformed by other sources.”
Meanwhile, the issue of EU membership is becoming so contentious that it could split the Tory party. It emerged yesterday that Nick Clegg, the deputy prime minister and a Europhile, is saying that giving the people of Britain an ‘In-out’ referendum would be “madness” even though the Lib Dem general election manifesto had promised an in-or-out EU referendum. (See picture below.)
One would have to see the proposed material before judging it . You could label lots of educational material in history and geography as “propaganda”, for example, when I was at school we were routinely told that countries which were “ours” were coloured red on the map.
Would it be reasonable to colour maps of Europe in atlases so as to indicate the area of the European Union ? Not unreasonable really. In maps of the world, it would in fact be particularly convenient to do this, as individual European countries tend to be so small.
When I was at school, European History ended with the end of the war in 1945. It must go beyond that now. Would European History not now include something about the growth of the European Union ? Difficult to see how it couldn’t.
Thanks for those observations Rox.
Keep in mind that we didn’t make any claims about these educational materials but merely reported the news about it. We will have to wait and see the website before we know whether the concerns raised by the Express and Paul Nuttall (some of which are admittedly over the top, such as the claim of child abuse) are warranted.
At the same time, if we are just going by what the EU has itself said, then I think there are legitimate grounds for concern regarding propaganda. But first, let me define propaganda. Propaganda occurs when an institution deliberately misrepresents itself in order to instill in people a good (but false) impression of itself.
Now the proposed website aims to present the methods of the European Parliament to children “‘In a playful manner” since (in their own words) “Research has shown the social and political perception of young people starts at a very early age.” The question we must ask is this: would a playful presentation of the EU be a misrepresentation since it would necessarily obscure the reality that the EU is a very serious organization obsessed with its own seriousness and self-importance? If the answer to this question is affirmative, then would you agree that the proposed website falls under the rubric of propaganda as defined above? A parallel situation is when the Nazis gave playful presentations of themselves to children. Even if they told children nothing that was technically false, the impression was inaccurate and therefore fell under the definition of propaganda.
Most of the £2billion a year that the EU spends on ‘communications’ is propaganda since their public relations deliberately leave out key aspects of their workings. If the architects of the EU were interested in presenting accurate information about themselves, they would be more forthright with the public about what actually goes on, instead of cherry-picking facts which are tailored to give a positive yet wholly inaccurate impression of themselves. This is completely different than simply how you choose to colour maps, although I can think of cases throughout history where the colour of maps is a key tool in spreading propaganda throughout the school system.
I’d be interested in knowing your further thoughts.
Thank you for your reply, Robin.
As I said all along, one would have to see the proposed material before judging it .
Your definition of propaganda would include a great deal of marketing, public relations, and advertising, and also morale raising.
After mishaps with horses which are by no means entirety their fault, supermarkets issue large newspaper advertisements to improve their image. Are they misrepresenting themselves ? Is it propaganda ?
People are told that if they are invaded, they will fight on the beaches, they will fight in the fields and in the streets, they will fight just about everywhere, they will never surrender. Was that true ? Probably not. Is it propaganda ? Probably, and some would say certainly.
Sunday schools target the very young with beliefs held by their parents. Not surprisingly, the youth organisations of communist countries did it too. Is that propaganda ? Scouts and guides honour the Queen.
The question really is not so much whether various examples are “propaganda”, but whether they reflect the views of a reasonable proportion of the population, and whether they are seen as reasonably advantageous or harmonious to society at the time.
Primary school science is full of anti-smoking propaganda . In a test, you can get as many marks for knowing that smoking is bad for you as for knowing that a whale is a mammal.
When my children were at school, they continually complained that they were being taught about Pakistan and not about Europe. No doubt this was being done in the interests of good racial relations, and keeping almost half the school in touch with its “heritage”, but my children felt that they were far more likely to go to France, Germany, Italy or Spain than to Pakistan. When it comes to a general education, in these days of quite easy and commonplace travel, I think it makes sense to present a lot of our heritage in a European setting. It’s not as if there is anything inherently anti-British about Europe, and certainly not anything inherently anti-Christian about it (making me wonder about quite how these concerns got here). If children are to be made aware of Gothic cathedrals, they might as well know about Notre Dame as Durham, indeed most of them are more likely to see it. If they are to learn about Henry VIII and see fine pictures of him, they might as well see pictures of his picturesque French counterpart François I at their meeting at Field of the Cloth of Gold. In cookery, they can explore where pasta and paella , to which few nowadays are strangers, originated .
“In a playful manner”. What does this mean ? It sounds to me as though it was written by a foreigner simply intending to assure us that the material will be suitable for the age-group and not too serious, perhaps a computer version of jig-saws with maps, or card games with flags (which are already available in British toy shops). Where did Paolo get his spaghetti ? Where did Pierre get his baguette ? Where did Pedro get his paella ?
In the case of the European Union as a political institution with all its flaws, surely we are talking about older children ? When you tell young children that the country is ruled by the Queen, with Parliament and the Prime Minister to help her, you don’t go into recent expenses scandals, or how to form a coalition. If you’re teaching the Civil War, the flamboyant royalists tend to be favourites, for all their extravagance and lack of democracy. When the children are teenagers, that will be the time for them to rebel against injustices and, if they feel so inclined, against anything you have taught them before.
So we do need to see the proposed material, but I shouldn’t worry too much about it. And my guess is that a lot of it will be quite useful maps.
Indeed, quite a lot of what goes on in marketing is propaganda.
All part of the plan to bring in a one world government. Destroy all national identity, national pride and culture and then brainwash the next generation into believing the EU is good and provides all anyone could want or need. Exactly what the N Koreans do with their people and the Chinese Communist party continues to do with their people. Next step unite EU with African Union, Asean, south and North American unions and Arab league under one Government and leader. Tony Blair started this (see the book “Abolition of Britain” by Peter Hitchens).
Christians know what is coming.
It strikes me that North Korea is quite a bad example. Destroy all national identity ?
Their main policy is to keep rigidly separate from South Korea. How is this likely to bring in a world government ?
David
So, what you are suggesting is that any integration between peoples, nations and cultures is a really bad thing. In other words, you would encourage yet more of the same tribalism, xenophobia, mistrust and isolationism that has been responsible for pretty much every war known to man. Including two world wars, which, in one century alone, resulted in the death of approximately 71,000,000 people. How very humane of you. How terribly enlightened.
I think he’s just saying the EU is a bad thing, old chap.
Then why does he say
“All part of the plan to bring in a one world government.” ?
If you were to say “Homosexuals are led by the Devil, and are against God’s plan for Mankind”, do you just mean “I think homosexuality is a bad thing” ? Is it all just a kind of showy language, not intended to be taken very seriously ?
So, what you are suggesting is that any integration between peoples, nations and cultures is a really bad thing. In other words, you would encourage yet more of the same tribalism, xenophobia, mistrust and isolationism that has been responsible for pretty much every war known to man. Including two world wars, which, in one century alone, resulted in the death of approximately 71,000,000 people. How very humane of you. How terribly enlightened.
– – – – – –
I can see at the moment AgentCormac that the institution of the EU has managed to introduce the very same things you are against…quote;
…”the same tribalism, xenophobia, mistrust and isolationism that has been responsible for pretty much every war known to man…..” unquote….
…in Europe where possibly before there was none, or very little. Thanks to their insane (and undemocratic) quest for a united Europe (note ‘their quest’ not necessarily the peoples of Europe) and the introduction of the Euro you now have Cypriots depicting Angela Merkel with a Hitler mustache, ditto the Greeks, the Germans slaggin off the Greeks for being spendthrift and lazy, the Italians having a government (the Troika) thrust upon them, Ireland (and this is the very worst one) being told to pay the bond holders of govt debt or the ECB would ‘pull liquidity’ on them ( http://onforb.es/Nu4v2P ) and finally throw in almost 50% youth unemployment in Spain and Greece.
I could jokingly say to you – how unenlightened
The problem I have as a Christian with the EU is that it was birthed in deceit – and was a plan foisted on the peoples of Europe by an elite( who really thought that Germany would go to war again at some point in the future) in order to bring lasting peace and harmony….Do tell me how that’s working out?
One of my clients was involved in the preparations for the Euro many years ago and once discussed the entry of the PIGGS to the Eurozone with Mario Draghi over a coffee in Strasbourg. At this point ALL those involved knew that certain countries were cheating on the entry criteria…you are now looking at the total mess they helped create.
If you really want to know how devious the EU/ECB is I suggest you read the rotten heart of Europe by Bernard Connelly, who was an insider working for the ECB -your eyes will be opened.
PS Try, if you will, not to use the word xenophobic in describing people who are against European integration – its a lie..
Peace
PS I belien there are many good things about ‘some’ of the ideas surrounding the EU (single market + others) so I am not totally against some intergration
Hey Rox, don’t get carried away,.. when David cites North Korea, he’s referring to the citizens of that state being totally indoctrinated, David is quite rightly likening that to what the unelected, undemocratic governing body of the EU is proposing as similar measures for the peoples of Europe in their desperate attempts to continue with their failed and failing socialist agenda.
Doesn’t Wes think it might be “carried away” to imagine for one moment that the “undemocratic governing body of the EU” is proposing, considering, in favour of, or capable of, indoctrination of the voters in its member states which would be anything like comparable to the indoctrination practised with apparent success in North Korea ?
I write “apparent success” because you never really know what people are thinking, and of course not all people are actually the same. At one time the people of Czechoslovakia were mainly indoctrinated into communism, or were they ? Worthy folk like the present Archbishop of Canterbury took risks to smuggle bibles, I think more to those who were not indoctrinated than to those who were. Now that the communist authorities have disappeared, the people of the Czech Republic don’t seem to be indoctrinated into communism at all, nor on the whole are they particularly keen on having bibles.
As for “failing socialist agenda”, what percentage of EU members are socialist at any one time ? Much maligned Angela Merkel is a Christian Democrat, not a Social Democrat.